Treasure
by DayoNight7
Summary: That fateful day, two things were blatantly made clear: Sakura Haruno was now officially attracted to Naruto Uzumaki, and she had no freaking idea how to deal with it.
1. Chapter 1

She was seventeen the first time she noticed him.

It was something so unexpected and sudden that when it happened, she literally blank-spaced and humiliated herself in front of the rest of her team. And considering it was during training of all times, it was pretty bad.

As in fall-out-of-the-tree-you-just-landed-in bad.

She was running stealthily along the branches, looking for a place to routinely stop for a few seconds to fill her fist properly with chakra while dodging the boy's shadow clones, when it just _happened._ He stopped in front of her, his trademark stupid grin on his face, and the idiot leaned in _inches _away from her, and she jerked back. Granted this action was no problem for a skilled Shinobi like herself, but that's when she noticed how very naked his torso was.

He had taken off his sweat-soaked shirt somewhere back in the training grounds while she was running from his clones, and her body chose now of all times to get excited by the tan, lean muscles that were bulging under his calloused skin as he coiled back for an offensive attack. The way that his stupid determined smile made those oceanic blue eyes sparkled with an earnest that only he could muster and his silky golden spikes danced in the small breeze made her do a double take. She lost her step as he sprung his advance on her, and she quite blatantly fell off the thick branch and onto her gaping face.

Not to mention right on top of Sai's head.

She had rolled off the stunned boy and curled into the fetal position, hoping that her teammates would take the hint and go away to let her sulk in her own humiliation, but she had no luck. The very cause of her misery ran up to her curled form and dropped to his knees, panicking at the thought that his best friend could be injured. He rolled her over and snagged her hands, which was where her face was buried, and practically forced her to look into his concerned baby blues whilst bombarding her with questions. With his much larger hands cradling her own, and the way he was looking at her and how close he was and _god _did his body look good right then, she finally came to her epiphany.

Sakura Haruno was very much attracted to Naruto Uzumaki, and she had no idea how to deal with it.

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After the incident, Sakura chose very wisely when she would see Naruto. It wasn't that she changed her preset schedule, oh no. She would still meet up with him and the team everyday for lunch at Ichiraku's, and she would attend the group training session every other day, and would greet him on the streets and when she saw him in the hospital, but she would no longer spend a whole lot of alone time. She also avoided looking at him for any longer than twenty seconds.

When thoughts of him came into her head, she immediately shoved them out and replaced them with images of his nasty, cockroach infested room or the time she accidentally walked in on her grandmother bathing and the burning sensation she felt went away. It was just a phase. She would be looking at him like the disgusting yet admirable kid she normally did in a few days tops and all would be well. There was no way she could like Naruto of all people.

Sure, there were times that even before the training incident where she would feel her heart flutter when he looked at her, or the weird somersault her stomach did the day he hugged her in pride when she saved a critical care ninja (which he did with every patient she did, but that time the feeling was different, and she had just brushed it off and blamed it on her sleep deprivation). She felt that if she ignored the feelings, things would go back to normal and she wouldn't be so confused and anxious, and gradually, it slightly did.

Now, almost three weeks from 'the incident', Sakura sits at her desk in her office at the hospital, stretching and groaning about her paperwork load. Things were settling down and going smoothly since the end of the Great War against Madara. The village is being rebuilt from the total wasteland the destruction put it through, and people were picking up the shattered remains of their lives and pushing forward. No matter how many times Konoha has been brought to it's knees (which was much more times in Sakura's life time than what she would consider bad luck) the village always brushed itself off and began anew. It was truly unbelievable.

Now things were quieting down after a year and a half of rebuilding, and the hospital's intake was very slowly buzzing down. The best part of the Great War, was that finally Sasuke Uchiha—their friend, teammate, _brother—_was home and where he belonged, with his family. Of course, not only is Naruto still pursuing his dream of becoming Hokage, but Sasuke as well. Kiba eventually dropped the idea of running against them when he saw the determination in both of her teammates drive, and nobody else really felt confident enough to stand against Naruto, the village hero, and Sasuke, the last remaining Uchiha.

Sakura considered the position, even declared her campaign in the heat of the war, but now that things have settled, she found she was needed elsewhere. The village's Head Medic was unfortunately killed during the war, and with Shizune declining the position and Tsunade still Hokage, Sakura was naturally the next person for the job. Despite her _very _young age, Sakura managed extremely well, which brought relief and pride to the village and her master. Under her watchful eye the hospital flourished, and she found that she felt satisfied with her career, and thus officially dropped out of the race to be Hokage.

Now she sits in her big desk, in her huge office, staring at her giant stack of reports and paperwork. Despite herself, she smiled forcibly and grabbed another handful, shuffling through them and reaching for a pen. She sat to work, plowing through the gruesome task with a mechanical motion. A few piles later, she reached for her mug and lifted it to her lips, tipping it back and expecting the now lukewarm liquid to slide down her throat, but frowned when she was greeted with air. Peering into her cup, she furrowed her brows and noticed the lack of the beverage.

With a frustrated sigh, she pushed off her desk chair and snatched her mug off the solid wood, shoving out the door and down the hall to the lobby. She nodded warm greetings to several patients, many of which she knew, and soon found herself in the tiny area behind the receptionists desk, where she kept her personal coffee pot. The coffee they have available in the lounge, as free as it was, was probably the worst excuse there was for the drink and had a taste similar to stale cigarette buds and acid.

As she poured herself another cup and doctored it with cream and sugar, she heard a familiar voice wading through the silence of the room. Despite herself, she smiled and turned just in time to see a blur of orange and black.

"Sakura-Chan!" he cheered, nearly bouncing up to the desk. "How's it going?"

"It's going." she sighed, clanking her stirring straw on the side of her mug before tossing it in the trash. "What brings you here, Naruto?"

"What? I can't come see you without a reason?" he teased, raising a blonde brow.

"That's not what I meant and you know it." she said and took a piping hot sip, scorching her tongue. "You normally come in here begging me for something."

"Well, I was wondering if there was a possibility if you're free right now." he admitted leaning forward on his elbows on the desk top. A pause ensued. "Are you?"

"I don't know. I'm pretty swamped. What did you have in mind?"

"I figured dinner at this little cafe down the street would be good. It's about dinner time anyways."

Was it now? Sakura glanced at the clock on the wall, and her eyebrows shot to her hairline. She had been there way longer than she needed to, and to her defense, there wasn't a clock in her office. She had been meaning to purchase one for quit sometime, but to everything that doesn't include immediate care to her work or friends, she was a bit of a procrastinator. She needed to get home.

"Who's all going to be there?" she asked, this time taking a deep gulp. Still hot, but bearable, now that her taste buds were singed.

"Well, Teme says that he has a meeting with his patrol officer, Sai is out with an Anbu mission, and Kakashi-sensi is no where to be found. So tonight I guess it's just me and you." he grinned widely.

Immediately Sakura threw out all thoughts of leaving the hospital, and panicked slightly. She remained calm and collected on the outside, and nodded as if nothing was wrong. "Sounds great, if only I weren't so busy. Sorry, Naruto."

She only slightly exaggerated to lie. She just wasn't ready to be completely alone with him yet. Especially something even remotely date-worthy like dinner at a small cafe. Not in the safety zone. She'll just pull another all-nighter as an excuse. Sakura ignored the dejected look on the blonde's face and continued to sip on her coffee. She figured she was off the hook, until the new receptionist (Ami was her name, Sakura thought) spoke up.

"Haruno-sama, you've been here all day. You're shift ended two hours ago. You're fine to leave." she smiled brightly, looking up at Sakura, who forced a tight smile on her face.

"Thanks, Ami. I wasn't aware. I guess I am free." she gritted out, her left eye twitching. "Wait here, Naruto. I'll go get my jacket."

"Sure thing, Sakura-Chan."

Walking down the hall, Sakura hurried into her office and slammed the door, yanking off her white coat and shoving it on the hook next to the cabinet. She then opened the latter object to get her jacket, and jammed her arms through it, bundling it around her and with a twist of her wrist she locked the door and shut it behind her, walking down the hall. When she approached, she noticed Naruto talking to Ami, his ignorance to the way she giggled and leaned forward, twisting an auburn lock in between her fingers etched all over his poise. With an irritated growl (she wasn't sure why) she strutted towards Naruto and grabbed him by the collar, leading him towards the door.

"H-Hey! Sakura-Chan! What gives?" he stuttered, trying to match her pace while her hand was still twisted in the front of his shirt. "Why are you so agitated tonight?"

Sakura realized just how strange she must have been acting, and now that she was away from Ami and her flirting, she felt ashamed and childish and slowed down while letting go of her blonde teammate. "Nothing. It's nothing. I was just tired of being in the hospital for so long, I suppose." she laughed tensely.

He rubbed his chest dramatically, playing the role of an abused puppy and stared at her skeptically. "You sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. Just a little shorter fuse tonight I guess." she informed, falling into step beside him. "Now where is this cafe? I'm starving!"

"It's down by Teme's apartment. It just opened up last week and it looked good, and I heard good things about the tea there. I could eat ramen for every meal of my life, but I know you get tired of it, so I figured a change could be good." he chuckled and she smiled gratefully.  
"Thanks. To be honest, tonight ramen sounded a bit overdone."

"I don't get you people." he shook his head playfully as she laughed.

"You're the one not to get! I bet when you bleed, you bleed broth."

"Sad thing is, I don't deny that."

Sakura laughed and ignored the way her body seemed to move closer to his. She decided to let it slide, as long as they didn't touch. She could practically feel the heat radiating from his body in the evening air, and shivered; not from the cold, but from the way her body ached to draw his heat closer. She frowned in disappointment at herself, having thought that she was past this immature stage of crushing, but Naruto's voice soon invaded her thoughts.

"You've been avoiding me lately." he stated blandly, as if he were making a disinterested observation. It was so distant and out of character that it had stunned Sakura.

"What?"

He still didn't face her, but he continued to talk. "I know we still hangout with the gang and stuff, but I have asked you to hangout just me and you several times, and you always say you're too tired, or you have a lot of work. We've hung out tons of times by ourselves before and you didn't mind then." He paused. "You've been distancing yourself from me, and I wanted to know why." At this point he turned to her, and while she seemed collected, he could see right through her and into her slowly panicking jade eyes. "Is...is it something I did?"

Immediate guilt washed over Sakura. How could she be so selfishly stupid? Knowing Naruto the way she does, how could she not realize that the slight yet sudden withdrawal would make him worry and instantly blame himself? When she noticed the shift in her feelings, her first response was to run away from it, being confused and not willing to change. Maybe she should just let things be.

"No no no!" she rushed, and actually stopped her walking. "It's nothing you did at all, Naruto! Don't be stupid." She looked away, chewing her lip, thinking of a broad way of putting it. "I've just...had a lot on my mind here lately is all. Nothing to worry about."

"Are you sure?" Naruto stepped closer innocently, and Sakura gulped. "I'm here for you, you know that. You can come to me for anything, Sakura-Chan."

Butterflies swarmed in Sakura's stomach, and a glowing warmth filled her to the brim at that simple statement. As general as the words were, the fact that it came out of the blonde's mouth and was directed at her made her heart thrum. Naruto must have noticed a difference in her stature, and he raised an eyebrow in question.

"Yeah, I know." she said, smiling a genuine smile. Immediately her teammate reflected the gesture. "Come on, let's go eat. I'm starved!"

With a goodhearted tug at his elbow for reassurance, she pulled him back into the motion of walking. When they began to stroll forward, she had to mentally tell herself to remove her arm from his. For better measure, she tucked both offending limbs behind her back and pursed her lips. Naruto seemed to take no notice of any of her actions, and only continued to stare ahead, his arms folded behind his head in his typical habit. She continued to watch him as they walked, the way his eyes sparkled softly in the evening sun like gems set out during an autumn dusk. Silently she giggled to herself, wondering just when she began to become a poet.

Her teammate must have noticed the crazy playful grin on her face, because he slowly turned his wandering eyes towards her amused face, smiling hesitantly. She merely shook her head.

"What?" he asked, his arms falling to his sides.

"Nothing!"

"Liar!" he laughed, slipping in front of her and awkwardly walking backwards.

"I was just looking at you and thinking..." she muttered, her eyes settling on his chest, suddenly unable to look him in the eyes.  
"About?" he gently inquired, and the soft tone of his voice had her eyes flickering to meet his.

Her heart thudded quietly. Yes, it was definitely a bad idea coming out with him tonight, especially with these new and confusing feelings still swirling inside her. None the less, she watched him with a strange gleam in her eye, and Naruto eyed her curiously, a dust of pink crawling up his neck by the intensity of her examining eyes.

"How can somebody be as ugly as you? Really, it should be a medical phenomenon! Cheekbones aren't supposed to be offset like that." she giggled, reaching forward and poking his cheek for emphasizes. She ignored the way her fingertip tingled afterward, and instead focused on the way his whiskered cheeks puffed out in mock agitation and how he squinted his eyes to look like a beady old man's.

"Mean. You are mean." he whined. "How could you, Sakura-Chan?"

"All I'm saying is, go get that checked out." she shrugged, trying to walk around him.

"Aren't you a doctor?" he asked, falling into step beside her. "Can't you check it out?"

"No. I'm off shift, remember?"

"Hey, hey! I thought it was, 'once a medic, always a medic', or something."

"Unless were off hours."

"Forget mean, you're cruel." he sniffed, swiveling his head to the side and lifting his chin. "So cruel."

"I am Tsunade's student, after all. Hey, there it is, isn't it?" She pointed out a small green building nestled between two other shops, and he nodded.

The building stood out against the other shops, the pastel leafy paint fresh and crisp against the chipping wood of it's neighboring businesses. An elegantly painted sign hung above a stain glass door, a beautiful pink lily swirling around letters that read "Junji's Tea". Sakura smiled at how cozy the little cafe looked, and was reaching for the door handle when a tan blur stopped her.

"Allow me, madam." he joked, but reached forward and opened the door whilst stepping aside for her. She gave him a goofy grin.

"Thank you, kind sir." she giggled, and rolled her eyes at his lop-sided smile as he followed her into the warm building.

A bubbly strawberry blonde bounced up to them as soon as they entered. She was clad in the traditional tea ceremony kimono, which Sakura found odd, considering this place didn't preform the actual tea ceremony for their customers. She shrugged it off as a mediocre way of setting the vicinity, and smiled politely at her nonetheless.

"Welcome." she greeted, her eyes darting between the rosette and the blonde at her side, but her gaze lingered on her teammate a little longer than to be a coincidence. "Two?" Naruto nodded, and she grabbed two menus. "Table or booth?"

"Booth, please." Naruto answered quickly. Sakura knew he would. He wanted a booth at every restaurant they went to.

"Right this way, sir." the waitress beamed, stepping closer to Naruto than what would be considered normal.

Sakura mentally growled. Has females always been this fan-girly over Naruto? The blonde idiot? She herself could admit that he was amazingly attractive even before her now confusing emotions about him. He was a great guy, the village savior, and could be genuinely funny. But these women have never seen him at his worst, like she has! They've never been there when shit hit the fan and things got ugly, they only see the happy, polite Naruto, not the sad and depressed, the angry and hurt, the embarrassing and stupid; none of it. That's when it hit her.

She's been through it all with him, and seen him at his absolute worst, and was still attracted to him.

She nearly groaned. How could she ruin their friendship with this little crush? He was her best friend and comrade, somebody she would give her life for; but she can't let it get any farther, no matter what she feels at the moment. Who knows, maybe it will change? She was almost certain that Naruto's feelings for her have changed to that of a close friend; she didn't blame him. With as many times as she's rejected the poor boy, she felt he deserved to move on, despite what she felt now. Maybe it was karma coming back to her for all those times she treated him cruelly? Even if he felt the same still, she didn't deserve his love. He deserves somebody who's always loved him. He deserves the best.

Yet why was she so angry, seeing girls like Ami and this waitress flirt with him?

"Here you are." the blonde girl sat them down a a table, her doe eyes batting the long lashes that framed them. Sakura squinted and noticed they were a very warm chocolate brown. A thin trail of freckles dusted her button nose. She was very pretty, and Sakura nervously looked over to her blonde teammate to see if he noticed too. He didn't, and was currently flipping through the menu. "What can I get you two to drink?"

"A pot of your famous tea, and two cups please." Naruto smiled up at her, his amazingly white teeth obviously dazzling the girl. She nodded with a blush and scurried away.

Sakura leaned over and nudged him. "Quit smiling like that. You'll end up like Rock Lee or Gai-sensei."  
He shivered in obvious disgust. "God, please don't say that."

Setting back against the booth seat, she shrugged. "Don't say I didn't tell you so when you discover your fetish for green spandex."

"Ew. Just ew."

Sakura laughed and flipped through her menu, scanning the items and picked her favorite. Naruto was obviously done browsing way earlier than her, and when the waitress came with the tea, they both ordered and now waited for their food, sipping on tea and enjoying the soft murmurs of the other customers. Sakura felt at peace and almost sleepy, and was just starting slide in her seat when a deep voice broke her out of her stupor.

"Tired?" Naruto asked, giving a knowing look.

"Yeah." she admitted, sitting up straight and yawning. "Must be the low lights." she observed with a glance over at the dangling lanterns. "Long hours at the hospital."

"Been busy?" he asked with a sip.

"The usual, really. Things have been dying down, but two doctors were out today. I had double the surgeries and paperwork. Nothing I don't mind."

He stared at her intensely. "How do you do it?"

"Do what?" she blinked.

"Everything. They put a lot on you at the hospital, yet you never complain." He continued his staring, but leaned forward on his palm. "You just smile and take it."

Flushing slightly, she cleared her throat. "Yeah, only way it gets done right is if you do it yourself."

He chuckled as the steaming plates of food were put in front of them. "Yeah, I guess so."

"How do you think you'll feel when you become Hokage?" Naruto eyed her. "I know Sasuke is also aiming for Hokage, but still."

"I won't mind." he shrugged, breaking apart his wooden chopsticks. "It's something I would love to do, so no matter what it requires, I'll still enjoy it."

"Exactly." she nodded, breaking her own eating utensils apart. She paused thoughtfully. "Although paperwork still sucks."

"Yeah, I could do without the paperwork."

Sakura dug into her meal, shoveling a big bite into her mouth. The food was scolding, but she always ate and drank everything that way, so she didn't mind one bit. She was a few bites in when she glanced up to see her friend still blowing his first bite cool. She shook her head in amusement before diving in for another huge gulp before stopping herself. She probably looked ridiculous eating like this in public, but she forgot to eat besides breakfast that morning, and had neglected to notice how famished she was until then. Sakura took a swallow of tea and resumed eating, but slower this time.

"How was training today? I missed it because of that stupid extra shift I had to cover."

"It was ok." he said after he swallowed. "Sasuke got to spar against Sai today. The poor boy didn't have a chance against the Wrath of Teme." he snickered, picking up another bite. "The look on his face when Sasuke cornered him with his Mangekyou was _priceless_."

Sakura almost wished she had been there to see it. "Who did you spar with?"

"Kakashi-sensei. He's still great practice, but I'm used to having a real challenge, like when I spare with you or teme."

The rosette's chest swelled with pride. "Challenge?" she playfully snorted. "I beat you out of the water, every time."

Naruto smirked in good-nature. "Oh really? I wasn't the one who fell out of the tree, last time I checked."

The memory blazed in her mind along with her face. That was something she didn't want brought up. "I told you I saw a snake! I swear!"

"You are a really bad liar." he sighed, twirling a piece of beef around with his chopstick. "Whatever it was, it must have been one hell of a distraction."

"Yeah." she said quietly, a strange tingling sensation down in the pits of her stomach was hard to ignore. "It was."

Naruto gave her a look of confusion, when the waitress came back over with a fresh pot of tea. Without much thought he reached over and poured them both a fresh cup, his fingers nonchalantly brushing hers innocently. Sakura stared at the steaming cup that was burning her hands and tried her best to ignore everything. It was seriously starting to annoy her, the way she was acting, yet she couldn't help it. She sighed deeply, and took a molten sip. She seriously has to talk to somebody, and that somebody meaning Ino.

"What are you doing after this?"

She looked up from her cup. "I thought I'd just hang around my house, watch a bit of television before taking a shower and going to bed. I'm pretty beat."

"Oh."

"Did you have anything in mind?" she wondered aloud, and he shook his head.

"Nothing really. I'm just not all that ready to go home yet." he admitted, taking a drink. They were both done with their food, and now just sitting and enjoying the tea and each others company.

"Want to go to the park?" she asked finally after a long silence, and he pondered on it.

"Nah, you're probably too tired."

"No! I really don't mind. I probably need to get out and do stuff, otherwise I'll become anti-social, with how much I've been cooped up here lately."

He smiled. "If you insist..."

Naruto called over the waitress and paid the full bill, despite Sakura's many objections against it, and they walked to the park together in comfortable silence, the evening now passed and melted into night. Stars shone lazily in the inky sky, and the chill of night passed through her thin tank top. She instantly wrapped her coat around her midsection, tying it tightly. They soon reached the deserted area, and Sakura went straight for the swings, as she always did whenever they ventured out into the place they occupied so often as children.

She plopped onto the metal swing, pushing herself lightly with her feet. Naruto sat down on the seat next to her, and lazily swung, not really going away from grounds reach. Sakura looked up at the crescent moon, the light barely enough to see where she was going, but not enough to where she could make out the building from across the street. They continued to sit in silence, until Sakura turned her head slowly to look at Naruto, to find him already watching her intently.

Her face flamed, and she was thankful for the poor lighting. "What is it?" she asked a little accusingly.

His serious (and almost sexy, though she would never admit it to him alive) face broke as soon as the words left her lips. "Oh, nothing." he laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. "I was just thinking about the last time we came here."

"Oh yeah." she smiled fondly, recalling the way it felt when Sasuke had finally joined them once again a few months ago. "It was weird, being here together again after so many years. But, it felt right." she sighed, swinging a tad bit higher. "We need to bring him again soon."

Naruto nodded in agreement. "Yeah."

"I'm really glad everything seems like it's going right for once, you know?" she began, slowing her movements. "I mean, I'm Head Medic, Sasuke's home, you're still able to go for the title of Hokage, the village is almost fully repaired, Tsunade can retire soon, and all in all we're all together again." she giggled. "I really hope I didn't jinx anything."

"No, I think you're good. And I agree. It's nice to take a breather and actually live while enjoying life for once. Everything has been so stressful." he whined dramatically and gave a light roll of his shoulders, in which Sakura watched closely. "I'm glad we all have things going for us. Now we just have to wait for what lies ahead, and I sense really great things." He ended with a giant grin from ear to ear, looking ahead as if he was glancing into the future itself.

Sakura looked at him softly. "Really great things." she echoed.

Naruto glanced over at the pink haired medic and nodded as if once again agreeing. "Absolutely. For _all _of us."

While looking at the bright, amazingly sincere expression on his face, Sakura's heart thrummed so suddenly that it startled her. She cleared her throat and slowly nodded back at him, picking up the pace of her swinging and avoiding looking at his face. She really needed to get this under control, especially if she wanted to remain being his close friend. She was almost grown dammit! She couldn't be acting like that annoying twelve year old Genin she left behind. She needed to stop what she was feeling before it ruined everything.

But as Naruto walked her home and dropped her off with a big embrace, her head swam. The scent of him washed over her, and she never realized for someone as careless as Naruto, that he smelt _so damn good._ That night, she found herself guiltily inhaling the reminiscent of him on her coat and cursing at herself for being so silly. With a groan she flung herself dramatically on her couch, closing her eyes and burying her face in her coat, wondering just what the hell she should do with herself and her predicament. It was officially and painfully confirmed as well as obvious now.

Sakura Haruno _was _indeed attracted to Naruto Uzumaki, and she seriously had not a clue what to do about it.


	2. Chapter 2

Sakura sighed deeply, shoving a wayward strand of pink hair away from her cheek and smoothed it back into her ponytail. She walked diligently to the waiting room, where she knew to find the family of her recent surgery patient. As soon as she entered the room, she saw them perk up from their seats, obviously waiting for the news of their nine year old little girl. The poor kid had fallen out of a tree nearly thirty feet high while playing with her brother, and miraculously landed on her feet. The downside to that was the way she completely shattered both legs from the knee down. Sakura mentally thanked Kami for her not falling on her head. The surgery wasn't too extensive, but did require a few hours of applying bolts and screws and plates to the damaged bone.

"Your daughter will be fine." she announced tiredly, and immediately the family jumped from their seats and whooped and hollered. Sakura raised a polite hand to call attention, and they settled down. "The surgery went smoothly, but she really did a lot of damage. I was able to repair it to my best abilities, and after quite a few months of physical therapy, she should be perfectly fine." she said, smiling. Remembering the last of her little speech she prepared, the smile then turned to a slant. "But I would like to advise you, that she can no longer preform any kind of extensive activities, and try your best to not let her run around too much, or jump. I understand as a little girl she's tempted to do these things, but..." Sakura breathed, once again feeling sympathy for the poor child. "We can't risk those plates shifting."

"We understand, Haruno-sama. Thank you!" The father rushed to her, shaking her hand fiercely with tears in his eyes from relief and neglected sleep. "Thank you!"

"Really, the surgery was a very elementary one. There was no real threat after the assessment." she countered, flushing slightly from the enthusiasm he was thanking her with. It was really not a life-threatening surgery, but if it were her own child, she supposed she could see the panic. Any good parent would have been this distraught. "You all have a great night, and remember what I said about the physical activity. If you could just step over to Ami, she'll help you set up the physical therapy appointments and administer your daughter's pain medication." she smiled, and turned down the hall to the filing room to put away the young girl's chart to her newly opened file.

Opening the door, she walked to the back and found it's now designated place and shoved it in, closing the drawer with her hip. Her heart jumped a little, sensing a chakra signature enter her office through the window from all the way in the filing room, but soon relaxed when she recognized the person. She felt no urgency to go to her office right away, so she went to refill her coffee and get a snack from the break room. She chose a doughnut from a box somebody had left out for the staff earlier that morning, and she made her way to her office, munching on the chocolate covered pastry.

"Hey, Pig." she greeted without even looking at the blonde that was stretched out on the couch in the corner. She took another bite and sat her mug on the desk, pulling a chair around to face the couch and plopped down.

Ino snorted. "Me a pig? Look at you, Forehead! Gobbling up fried dough."

Sakura shrugged. "It's delicious." she said, taking another mouthful to spite her.

"Yeah, they are." she huffed. "Remind me to get one on the way out."

"No, you're a pig, you'll eat all of them and the staff will blame me for letting my fat friend into the break room."

Ino shot her a dirty look. "Why am I even friends with you when all you do is bring me down?"

"That's not me bringing you down, that's your fat."

The blonde shrieked loudly and threw one of the decorative pillows at the rosette, which she could have easily dodged, but let it thump against her chest to satisfy her friend. "Better?"

"No, but I will be, after I get a doughnut." she blew a piece of her bang away from her face. "You know, this couch is actually really comfortable."

"Yeah, I did that on purpose." Sakura walked over to the couch, having finished her doughnut and picked up Ino's feet and sat down, but set them back into her lap. "Sometimes I take short little naps on here when I work an all-nighter. I even have a pillow and blanket stored in that cabinet over there. Along with my spare hygiene utensils and extra clothes if I ever get blood on the ones I'm already wearing. I always come prepared."

"Sounds like you live here."

Sakura scoffed. "Sometimes, I do. It's really sad."

"It is. Hey, what are you doing for the day besides working?"

"I haven't really any plans tonight. But my lunch break is in...forty minutes, if you can wait that long."

"Yeah, I was kind of hoping we could go out to lunch together. It's been _forever_." she said, exaggerating the last word and slightly tossing her head back.

"That's true. And I could do lunch. But please, no ramen. Normally Naruto picks me up during lunch for Ichiraku's and it would be a wondrous change to go to that dumpling shop again."

"Naruto's not taking you to lunch today?"

"No, he's having a meeting today or something, so he apologized to me this morning when he saw me walking here."

"Oh, well then. What do you think it's about?" Ino asked, tracing the stitches in the twin decorative pillow that wasn't on the floor.

"I don't know." she admitted, shrugging. "Probably a mission or some jazz, he hasn't been out on one in a while. He probably has cabin fever. I know I'm coming down with a case. I may put out for a leave and go take on a B rank. We'll see."

"Yeah, I have a mission coming up really soon. Nothing serious though. Scroll retrieval." She paused. "So, Chouji asked me something the other day."

"Oh, really? Was it 'how are you getting way fatter than me?' Because I saw that one coming." Sakura snickered as Ino swiped at her.

"No! And I'm not fat, you're just jealous of my body." she puffed out her cheeks, but deflated them and looked over at her friend with a smile. "But, he did ask me out on a date! Anndddd, I obviously said yes!"

"That's great, Ino! I figured you'd choose Chouji. Shikamaru has been kind of hanging around Temari, hasn't he?"

"Yeah, and they always say a Kunoichi ends up with one of her teammates." The blonde shrugged and stared at the wide eyes on her best friend's face. "What?"

The sentence immediately reminded her of her predicament, and she shook her head, her ponytail swishing. With a glance to her hands, Sakura cleared her throat. "Do you think that's true for everybody?"

Ino pulled herself up, but left her legs on Sakura's lap and shrugged. "Maybe. Why? I thought you were over the whole Sasuke fan girl stage."

"I am! Seriously!" she quickly quipped. "I love him, don't get me wrong, but as a best friend."

"Sai?" Ino asked straight-faced.

"No."

The blonde stared at her. "It's Naruto." Sakura pursed her lips, and Ino nodded in approval. "I knew it! Seriously, he's a great guy. And the way you've been acting for the past month is kind of obvious to everyone _but _Naruto. You're lucky he's just so dense when it comes to these things."

"I'm not going to do anything about it." Sakura sighed, pushing her friends legs off her lap and frowning.

"Why the hell not?"

"It's just..." she started, biting her lip. "I don't deserve him. Not by a long shot."

"What the hell? What are you talking about, Sakura?" she asked, narrowing her blue eyes.

"All those times I've been mean to him, pushed away his feelings..."

"That's in the past, and like, forever ago, might I add. We were kids."

"And just what do you expect me to do, Ino? Walk up to him and suddenly show interest after years of drilling it into his head that I won't ever like him more than a friend?" Sakura snapped. "Just walk up and say 'Hey, I finally decided that I like you back, and I expect you to still feel the same'? I can't do that to him! Besides, he probably has settled his feelings for me the same way I have for Sasuke."

Ino sat in silence for a moment, before clearing her throat and looked over at her best friend. "All I'm saying is, you'll never know unless you try. Who knows? Naruto probably still loves you."

"No, it's just my luck that I finally realize it and he doesn't feel the same anymore. Sometimes, when I think about it, I probably liked him before, but every time I started going that way, I would repulse it with negative thoughts of his faults, and after I would lash out at him, I'd feel better but," she took in a deep breath. "Now that he and I are grown, I don't have any negative thoughts to shove up against that barrier and it's becoming harder to ignore these freaking emotions. I have not a freaking clue what to do."

"You heard my verdict. Why don't you tell him?"

"I'm scared I'll weird him out, or make him angry that of all the times for me to like him, I choose _now_. What's wrong with me?" Sakura chuckled darkly, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"We'll, you have thunder thighs for one, and your hair makes me hungry all the time, but other than that, nothing." Ino assured, patting her friend's back. Sakura shot her a playful glare. "Nevertheless, I still think you should tell him. But you do what you will. Hey, we're still young! Plenty of time, sweetie." Ino smiled encouragingly, but then turned completely serious. "Now speaking of making me hungry, I want a doughnut!"

Sakura laughed despite herself, and pushed herself off the couch. Ino followed suit and they continued down the corridor, heading straight for the break room. The rosette walked to the vending machines once they were in there, and purchased a bottle of vegetable juice to balance out all the doughnuts and coffee she had that day, and spent the next ten minutes making idle chat with her friend when she heard a knock at the door frame of the room.

"Haruno-sama." A nurse called politely. "There's someone here-"

"Sakura-Chan!" When she heard the cheery voice, her heart leap up to her throat. "What's up?"

"Hey, Naruto." she smiled at him, and noticed he was beaming a little brighter than normal, if that was even possible. "We're just hanging around. I thought you were going to be in a meeting all day and wouldn't be able to take me to lunch." she teased.

"I was supposed to, but it ended early, so I guess I can take you to lunch." he said, wiggling his eyebrows and pulling a chair up to their table.  
"No way, idiot. I got dibs." Ino said around a mouthful of fried dough. "Get lost."

"Ouch, Ino. Hurts right here." he pouted and patted his heart.

"Guys, there's enough of me to go around." Sakura said, sticking out her tongue.

"Wow, conceded much?" Ino scoffed, taking another bite. "No, but seriously Naruto, you can join us."

"Sweet. But uh, Ino, can I borrow Sakura for a second? It'll be really quick!"

Ino gave her pink haired friend a lecherous smile, before nodding. "Of course. I'll just be here, eating all your doughnuts."

Sakura rose from the table, and Naruto grabbed her hand excitingly and pulled her to the hall way, but instead of stopping like she thought he would, he almost dragged her to her office. Confused but giddy from his own radiating enthusiasm, she watched as he turned and locked the door. She pushed away inappropriate thoughts, and watched as Naruto walked up to her, grinning from ear to ear.

"What is it?" she giggled. "Why so secretive, and why couldn't Ino hear?"

"I wanted you to be the first." he admitted. "Guess what!"

Sakura could almost guess, but she didn't want to spoil the chance to tell her. "What?"

"GUESS WHO'S GOING TO BE HOKAGE!" Despite the secretiveness, he said it rather loudly, and Sakura winced, but matched his giant bright smile with her own.

"Oh my god, Naruto that's great!" she cried, jumping and wrapping her arms around his neck, and he crushed her body against his as his arms found themselves around her waist. She let them stay that way for awhile, seeing if Naruto would pull away first. Almost a full minute and a half passed and he wasn't relenting, which excited her, but she pulled away first so it wasn't strange. "What about Sasuke though?"

"He was bummed, but the council voted me." he sheepishly shrugged, but his grin returned. "But they did promise him something amazingly great."

"What's that?" she asked, hopeful for her other best friend.

"He gets to open the Konoha Police Department again! And he'll be Head Director and Chief!"

"That's amazing!" Sakura breathed, happy for both her friends. Things were really looking up for everyone.

"Yeah, but he has to wait until his patrol is over next year. Tsunade's really excited to mentor me for the next few weeks though. I think she just wants to retire." he barked a laugh. "I don't blame her. She's getting old."

"If she heard you say that, you'd be halfway flying to Suna by now."

"Yeah." he admitted. "But can you believe it, Sakura-Chan? In a few weeks, this village will have a new Hokage!"

"It's almost surreal."

Sakura took her eyes off his face and looked down, finally noticing how close he really was. She cleared her throat and looked back up into his oceanic eyes, and found how much they really had matured. It was almost weird thinking about it now. This once severely mentally questionable Genin is now going to be Hokage over all of Konoha. Almost everything about him has matured, and the more she thought about it, it's the same for her, and everybody else she knows. It's a sad but exciting thing.

"Sakura." he rumbled, and she immediately snapped back into reality. He almost never used her name without the suffix when calling to her, and she instantly grew worried.

"Yeah?" she answered lowly. Was it her hopeful imagination, or was he moving closer. The serious look on his face only made her thoughts and heart race faster.

"I just wanted to-"

"Haruno-sama!" A shrill voice nearly screamed from behind the oak door, and she saw Naruto's face fall slightly, and he stepped back. "Please, open up Haruno-sama!" The door handle jingled furiously, and Naruto rushed to unlock it and the nurse burst through it before he had even taken a chance to step back. "You must come, quickly! It's an emergency."

Sakura instantly switched to 'Head Medic mode' and flew to the nurse's side. "What is it?"

"A group of Anbu were ambushed near Wave, and two are in critical condition and their vitals falling fast. One is severely poisoned and another-"

"Take me to them _now._" Sakura ordered, summoning four shadow clones who had already begun to rush to the critical care unit, where she suspected them to logically be.

"Yes, right this way." she said, pushing out the door and jogging down the hall.

Sakura turned around and smiled apologetically to Naruto, who nodded in understanding. "Tell Ino I'm sorry about lunch, but, duty calls."

"No problem, Sakura-Chan."

And with that, she sprinted down the hallway, where she was suspecting she'd be for at least the next day. Sighing mentally, she knew this was how almost all days are, and she should be used to it by now, but it still bugged her to be interrupted like that. They always chose the worst times to come in.

What was Naruto wanting to tell her?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXX

It was indeed the next day, 3:34 am to be exact, when she had finished, her chakra completely depleted. She sighed tiredly, never feeling this exhausted in her life. The nurse that had informed her had severely underestimated the amount of internal damage that was wrong with the Anbu. One of her assistants had fallen over in complete exhaustion in the middle of the fourteen hour surgery, where herself and a clone were diligently working away to stop the bleeding, and a lung form collapsing. That created even more stress and chaos in the surgery room. The poison had been a severely complex and highly potent one, and she had to have a clone on the poor man constantly to keep the poison from spreading while she took the thirty minutes to whip up the antidote. If it weren't for that little rhombus on her forehead allowing her to dip into a bit of reserved chakra, she would have collapsed herself.

Sakura is sliding against the wall as support on her way to her office. Tonight (or this morning, depending on how you were looking at it) was one of those were she had to stay the night until she had enough energy to walk home safely. She yawned, so big that tears stung the ends of her tired eyes, and she dragged herself to her door, yanking it open and shutting it with her foot. She trudged over to the closet, grabbing her pillow and blanket and threw them on the couch. With a groan, she literally fell onto the couch, burrowing underneath the blanket. She was asleep before her head even hit the pillow.

When she woke, there was light pouring through the slits of the blinds, and she sat up, stretching until she heard a few satisfying pops. Smacking her mouth, she frowned when she tasted morning breath and felt her fuzzy teeth from behind her lips. With a shudder, she threw her blanket off of her and onto the back of the couch, stumbling over to the cabinet and retrieving her shower caddy. The hospital was filing with the morning staff, some giving her alien stares, knowing full well she wasn't supposed to be there yet, until they realized she must have stayed all night, and when she smiled at them tiredly, they returned it with sympathetic yet admirable smiles.

Sakura entered the shower room with an echo, it being completely empty, just how she liked it. She walked to the shower that was the farthest down the large room, and turned the head onto full blast, with the water as hot as it will go. She didn't know why she liked everything so hot, but she did. Probably why she was attracted to Naruto, she thought with an audible laugh. She brushed her teeth furiously in the shower, and scrubbed her hair and body extremely hard, to the point where they were burning a bright pink when she exited, but then again that might be from the extreme heat.

She dressed quickly and brushed her hair. Looking at the time, it was almost eight in the morning, and she shrugged. A little later than what she normally got up, but considering her night, she needed way more sleep than what she got. Normally she would be fine, but that day she just felt drained. No way could she work that day. She walked out into the hallway, and apologized to the receptionist, but she needed to go home and sleep, and she asked her to tell everyone that her shift had to be covered that day. The woman nodded knowingly, and told her that she deserved a day off and it would be no problem.

With that assurance, Sakura walked back out onto the road, determined to make a beeline for her home. She made it about halfway, when she saw something approaching in the distance. Squinting her eyes, she looked down the street to find two approaching figures. If she had her full chakra levels, she would have scanned for their chakra signatures, but she decided to rely on old fashioned eye sight. Once they were closer, she instantly recognized her two best friends.

"Sakura-Chan!" Naruto screamed, which in return Sasuke reached over and slapped him in the stomach.

"Watch your mouth, Dobe!" he growled. "Do you want the entire neighborhood awake?"

Holding his middle, Naruto bent over dramatically for about three milliseconds before bouncing back up. "Shut up, teme! Nobody asked you!" he barked dangerously, before turning back to Sakura with a huge grin. "How was it?"

Sakura sighed deeply, shaking her head. "Terrible. I have to go home and sleep it off. It was really bad."

Naruto pulled his mouth into a straight line. "But you were able to fix them up, right?"

Sakura smiled despite the exhaustion. "You know it. Who am I again?"

Naruto gave a whoop of excitement, sweeping her up into a bear hug. "That's my Sakura-Chan!" he exclaimed, giving her a long squeeze.

A deep blush broke out across her face, and she wriggled out of the blonde's grasp, even though she wanted to stay, but she couldn't risk him feeling her racing heart. Sasuke raised a dark brow in question, and she shot him a haughty glare. He raised both eyebrows, and threw his hands up in a mock submissive manner. Sakura rolled her eyes at him.

"Where are you two going?" she asked finally.

"Oh, Teme and I are going to the Hokage Tower. He needs to discuss the future plans with the council for the building of the police department, and today is the first day of my training!"

"Awesome you guys!" she nodded.

"Going home to sleep?" Sasuke asked, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

Sakura snorted. "More like crash. I totally overdid it last night."

Naruto shook his head, breathing out of his nose deeply. "I told you, you do way too much."

"It's not that bad. It's for the good of the hospital! Besides, it makes me feel great, helping others."

"Do you get some sort of sick pleasure from it? Because it seems like everything you do is for others."

"Maybe. But who cares? Everybody benefits, one way or another." she shrugged.

"No." he said seriously, watching her intently. He cringed at the visible bags under her eyes. "You're over working yourself again."

"Am not!"

"Yes, you are." he said softly. He walked closer and put a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it gently. Bending slightly, (since when did he get so tall?) he stared her in the eyes, his searching hers, and noticed the way they widened in panic. "Sakura, go take a vacation. Spend an entire week laying around the house and watching cheesy chick flicks and eating all the junk food you want. Just quit working yourself to the ground."

"Naruto, I said I'm fine." she almost whispered, his face merely inches from hers. It intimidated her, which she didn't know if that was his motive or not, but it wasn't a scared intimidation. She swallowed harshly, and bit down the flush that was creeping up her neck. "I don't need the time off. The hospital needs me."

"They'll be fine, trust me." he countered, still staring at her. Her heart pounded in her chest, and wondered how he hadn't heard it yet. A loud clearing of the throat sent both their heads swiveling to Sasuke, who they just realized was still there.  
"Look, we're going to be late, and if you want to stand there and converse with eye contact, fine by me, but I'm leaving your ass, because _I'm _not going to be late."

"You're a real bastard, you know that?" Naruto hollered, standing straight again, but not removing his hand from her slender shoulder. Sakura giggled to herself when she saw the pink dust on his cheeks. He turned back to her. "If not a week, then a few days?"

Sakura sighed in defeat. "Fine. I'll think about it."

Naruto grinned widely, and turned away, following behind Sasuke, who had held up his threat and began walking without him. "I'll see you later, Sakura-Chan!"

"Sure, sure!" she waved, and began back to her route home.

She opened her door, settling a plan in her mind. She'll take a few days off, and after the few days are up, she'll take on a mission, and go back to the hospital. Typically, a normal, full time employee got four weeks of vacation time throughout the year. Kunoichi's schedules were much more flexible, and she was able to take off more time, if it was for missions. Personal days, she still only got the standard four weeks worth. She hadn't used any of her vacation days, and it was almost the end of September, meaning she had plenty of time to waste. Maybe Naruto was right, maybe she did need a rest.

Flopping on her bed, she threw her favorite quilt over her body and curled into a tiny ball, sighing in satisfaction. It didn't take very long before she started drifting, and when she finally opened her eyes, the sun was setting. Wow, did she screw up her sleeping schedule, she realized with a frown. It was great timing though, and her phone rang as soon as her feet hit the cool hard wood of her floor. Reaching over, she untangled the ringing device from it's cords.

"Hello?" she answered, still groggy from sleep.

"Forehead!" Ino sang, making her cringe.

"Ugh, what do you want, Pig?"

"You owe me." she answered bluntly.

"Owe you what?"

"You said we'd go out to lunch, and you never went."

"Ino, that's not my-"

"Ah ba ba. No exuses. You owe, and I'm here to collect the favor."

Sakura scoffed. "You sound like a loan shark."

"Yes, but I'm twice as scary." Sakura snorted. "Shut up! Anyways, tomorrow is half price drinks at this totally swank place down the street from my flower shop, and I saw it on the way home from work today and I want to go."

"Then go by yourself."

The rosette could almost hear the dramatic pout that was probably ensuing at that moment. "No. That's no fun. So I invited Hinata—can you believe she said yes?!—and Tenten, and they're going!" the blonde whined.

"Great, looks like you aren't alone. Have fun."

"No! You _need _to come! It just isn't the same without the four of us together! And you have been working way too hard here lately. You need to have fun, you workaholic!"

"Why is everybody saying that?"

"Because it's true. Now please, oh god, just _come_, you lame nerd."

"Ok! Jesus Christ, calm down, woman." she huffed, shaking her head. "What time are we leaving?"

"Be ready by about five. See you then?"

"Yeah." With a click, Sakura ended the phone call.

It wasn't that she didn't want to go, she loved a good party just like the next girl, but whenever she went to places like that, she ended up the drunkest out of all of them, and she had a bad case of loose lips when she did; and the fact that the drinks were half priced, it was going to be worse this time around. She'll probably slip up and tell the entire bar of all her troubles, including the one about Naruto. She still couldn't get over the last time she drank and told a random old man her entire life's story. Sakura groaned and threw herself back onto her bed, bouncing slightly, and proceeded to stare at the ceiling. Hopefully Ino will keep her reined in if she made her promise. She would understand this time, wouldn't she?

Sakura rolled over, staring at her closet, thinking of the outfits she could possibly put together when her door bell rang. She pushed herself up and walked to the door, thinking how popular she must be today, and flung it open to find the one person she didn't want to see, but also the one she couldn't go without seeing. His blue eyes sparkled as soon as they landed on her, and the default smile returned to his face. Sakura furrowed her brows at his hands, which were suspiciously behind his back. When she tried to peek, he shifted to the side.

"What's up?" she asked, still trying to peek.

"I figured you hadn't eaten all day." he admitted, shrugging and pulling his hands in front of him, holding a giant brown paper bag. Now that he mentioned it, her stomach growled loudly, making him chuckle as she looked down embarrassingly. "So I brought dinner." he admitted, shrugging casually as if he did that everyday. Thinking about it, Sakura hadn't had a decent meal in the last two days. "I know it's just take out, but I figured it was better than you having to cook."

Tears threatened to fill her eyes at the sheer thoughtfulness of his action, and she quickly cleared her throat to try to avoid looking stupid. "Thank you, it's more than enough! How did you know I haven't eaten yet?" she asked, stepping aside so he could enter her apartment.

He kicked off his shoes and hung his jacket at the door. He rolled his eyes at her. "Because I know you. I may only put ramen in my body, but at least I put _something _in there. I swear, you'd starve yourself if somebody didn't remind you to eat."

"All you and Ino do is eat, so I don't want to hear it. Anybody's eating habits would be considered weird to you."

"So not true."

Sakura snickered amusingly, walking over to her dining table and gathering the pile of medical scrolls and placed them on top of her refrigerator. She then grabbed two cups and filled them with water, along with two sets of chopsticks and some napkins, setting the table with them. Naruto sat the bag down and pulled out a carton of rice, a big container of meat, a container of dumplings, and another of vegetables. Sakura's mouth watered at the sweet aroma of the food, and Naruto sat in the seat across from her.

"How was training?" she asked, sitting down and reaching for the rice.

"It was pretty great, actually. A lot of basic stuff, not really all that hard. I caught on pretty quick. I had lunch with teme at Ichiraku's. I would have invited you, but I knew you were probably sleeping the day away, so I decided to make up for it with dinner."

"Thank you, again." she almost whispered, lowering her head. "You really didn't have to."

"I know that." he scoffed. "But I did it anyways. I knew if I hadn't, you either wouldn't have eaten at all, or tried to pass off on some kind of excuse for food, like rice and canned tuna."

"Hey! That was really good, actually."

"Gross, Sakura-Chan."

"Don't knock it until you've tried it!" she declared, drooling over her now loaded plate. She bent down to take a huge bite, but stopped halfway to her mouth, feeling eyes on her. When she looked up, her annoyance had been confirmed. Naruto watched her with an amused look. "What?" she spat out, straightening up.

"Oh nothing. It's just every time you eat, you bend over your food like a cave woman." he laughed.

"I do not!" she cried, blushing. "You're over exaggerating!"

"No way! You look like you're about to pull out a club and bash me over the head for my portion too!"

"Shut up, Naruto! You aren't funny!"

"I find that hard to believe; I'm _hilarious_." he smiled, taking a big bite of a dumpling. When he swallowed, he saw that she was staring at her plate with a mortified look on her face. He burst into laughter. "Ok, it's not that bad! I was only teasing!" She looked up and puffed her cheeks out at him, and he grinned at her childish antics. "Go ahead and eat, Bertha."

"One of these days, Naruto Uzumaki, you're going to wake up with your head super glued to our pillow." she muttered, but took a mouthful of rice and meat none the less. Popping a pepper in her mouth, she crunched loudly to spite him. He smirked at her.

"I am so scared of you and you're super glue. Wouldn't you feel like a pervert for sneaking into my room in the middle of the night, though?"

"Not if it's for sweet revenge."

"Hey now, watch it. You might turn into Teme."

"I highly doubt that." she rolled her eyes, taking a long drink from her glass.

"You never know." he dragged out, shrugging. "It happens to the best of us."

Sakura paused, and stared at him. "You sure talk a lot of crap."

"As do you." he said. "I think this is why we work."

"We work?" she asked, raising a pink brow. Her pulse increased a tad at the thought of it.

"You know, our friendship!" he laughed anxiously, and her heart sank to her nearly full stomach.

"Yeah." she mumbled, angrily stabbing a piece of broccoli.

The way they had dinner together the other night, how he fussed over her earlier in the day, the interrupted sentence in her office, and now him bringing her dinner almost made it seem as if they were beginning to be a bit more, but that's the hopeful imagination she adapted the moment she realized her feelings. As she was right, he only thought of her as a friend. She sighed, and shoved a whole dumpling into her mouth. But that train of thought reminded her...

"Naruto." she called after the moment of silence. He looked up, and she giggled. He had pieces of rice stuck all over his face. "Uhmm, you got some...uh..." Her heart beat picked up again as she leaned forward to brush them off, but his arm rushed up and wiped it away before she could. Annoyed, she sat back in her seat again.

"Did I get it?" he asked innocently, still rubbing his face.

"Yeah, you got it." she grunted. "Hey, Naruto, what were you going to say in the office yesterday? You know, before you got interrupted?"

His face was full of puzzlement for a few seconds, before a flash of recognition crossed his features, and he shook his head. "It's nothing, really."

"No, tell me!" she pushed, nodding in encouragement.

He stared at her, before sighing. "I just wanted to ask you something. But it's a ways away."

Her head tilted to the side. "Just come out with it."

"Just going along the topic, at the end of my training, you know how we always have a festival to celebrate the new Hokage?"

"Oh, yeah! I completely forgot! Tsunade's had the best fireworks!" she exclaimed, remembering the night with a fond expression.

"Yeah, well I was talking to Tsunade that day, and she brought up the festival."

"Hm. It's weird. I'm so proud of you, but wow, this festival is going to be for you." she laughed in disbelief. "You deserve every bit of it, but how will you handle all the attention."

"I don't know." he chuckled admittedly. "Which is why there's this thing I kind of wanted to ask you."

"What?" she inquired, swallowing hard. She felt like she knew where this was going.

"There's this smaller dinner party that happens, where the council and the previous Hokage kind of get together and the Daimyo comes and anoints the new Hokage and junk and I don't want to be alone and I can invite a few other people so I was wondering if you, Sasuke, Sai, Iruka-sensei, and Kakashi-sensei wouldn't mind going." he finished, taking in a deep breathe.

It wasn't exactly what she was thinking, but immediately her face lit up. "Of course, Naruto! Why would I mind? I would love to be there for you!" she breathed. He grinned at her. "Thank you for inviting me!"

"Of course I would." he said, leaning forward and grabbing her hand. The expression on his face resulted in her breath catching in her throat. "You're one of the most important people to me. I wouldn't want any other people there with me. You guys are pretty much my everything." he said, and looked down, laughing gently, but it was a deep melancholy sound. "You guys are my family."

Sakura gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "We're always here for you. Always will be." His eyes flickered up to hers, and they locked eyes with each other. Sakura felt the same warmth from the night they went to the park fill her again, and she almost forgot to breathe.

He squeezed her hand in return. "Thank you."

"Now smile, dammit!" she hollered playfully, releasing his hand and nudging his foot under the table. "You worked damn hard for this all your life, and it's finally happening!"

"You're right!" he agreed, picking up his chopsticks and waving them in the air, going along with her antics. "All hail your Rokudaime, Naruto Uzumaki!"

Giggling, she picked up her chopsticks and clanked them against him. "I'm pretty sure if you said that to the village, they'd chase you down in a big mob and when they got you, they'd all take turns kicking you."

"God, glad to see your belief in me, Sakura-Chan." he huffed, setting his eating utensils back down.

Thinking about it, Sakura pursed her lips. "I just realized that you'll probably be the youngest Hokage we've had."

"Yeah, they argued about that, but, I won them over." he smirked, taking a drink of water.

"Not even going to ask."

"Yeah, I wouldn't either." he admitted, and looked over at the clock. "It's getting late."

"That it is." she said, noticing the time herself. "You can either be a total spaz and go home, and be a cool kid and stay around to watch a crappy horror movie with me."

"Is that peer pressure I hear?" He raised a golden brow. She laughed and nodded. "No work tomorrow? I thought you only got Sundays off."

"I do, but blah, I took your advice and called in for the next few days. So I get tomorrow off. And come on, I don't want to lay around in my room and read all night. I do that every night. It's Friday!"

"Don't you watch movies by yourself?"

"No! It's weird and lonely trying to watch movies by yourself."

"Hm. Point taken." he glanced at the clock, and smiled. "I could stay for a movie or two."

"Good. I picked up this really bad movie the other week about Zombie-Vampire hybrids. Interested?"

"Sure, I'm in for a good laugh." he approved, throwing himself on the couch.

Sakura popped in the movie and leaned back on the couch next to Naruto. Immediately they saw the acting was terrible, and the CGI was crap, and they spent the entire movie laughing at it. They decided on a second movie, and in the middle of it, Sakura felt a wave of exhaustion hit her again. Her eyes drooped shut, and she felt herself sliding. Soon she was floating in between consciousness and sleep, and she felt her head hit something warm and solid, yet undeniably comfortable.

She sighed and nestled closer, a delicious scent invading her nostrils, and she breathed in deep. She faintly recognized a beating, and with every breath, she felt the thumping increase. It was gently yet quickly throbbing against her cheek, and she found it soothing, but it didn't feel right. It shouldn't be that fast. That's when it hit her, despite her half awake state. That was a heart beat, and the only other person with her was Naruto.

Her jade eyes snapped open, and very slowly she lifted her head up to see Naruto staring at her, eyes wide enough were she could barely make out the whites around his irises. The credits had just started rolling, and the almost blackened screen set the room into a light shadow. Sakura couldn't make out much of his facial coloring, but she could almost be certain his face was as red as her own. She still felt his heart thrumming madly under her fingertips, in which her hand had splayed itself on his left pectoral. She continued to stare at him, almost frozen with embarrassment and fear, her mouth slightly parted in shock. Her brain kept telling her to _move idiot and get off him you freaking cow _but her body remained slanted against his heat.

She didn't know how long they stayed there, gaping at each other, his heart beat never slowing underneath her hand, and her face never losing the excess color, but the TV eventually went completely off, and it snapped Sakura out of it. She shoved herself up abruptly.

"I'm really sorry!" she cried, staring at the floor. "I was just still tired I guess, and I never meant to lay all over you like that. I must have suffocated you, didn't I? Ino always told me I had thunder thighs." she coughed into her hand.

Naruto chuckled, and sat up straighter. "What time is it?" he asked.

Sakura got up, and turned on the lights and looked at the clock on the wall. "Oh shit, it's almost midnight. I'm sorry." she turned to him, and he shrugged. Sakura vaguely recalled his face never being that flushed naturally. Her heart raced. Was it possible?

"No big deal. I needed something to do tonight anyways. I can deal with training tomorrow. I don't have to get up super early." he reasoned before slipping on his shoes and jacket. He turned towards the rosette. "Thanks for the movies, and accepting my invitation."

"Hey, thanks for the food." she smirked, and walked up to him. He wrapped his arms around her waist the moment she wrapped hers around his neck. They both squeezed, and he playfully swayed them back and forth. "Good luck with training tomorrow."

He snorted. "I'm not going to need it."

"Cocky bastard."

"Hey, you can't call me that. My name isn't Sasuke Uchiha."

Sakura threw her head back and laughed, swatting at him as he opened the door. "Don't talk to strangers, even if they offer you candy."

"Not interested in the candy, now if they offered ramen, I'm a goner."

Sakura laughed again and shut the door behind him. Looking around, she frowned to find that her apartment felt a little more empty without him there. She walked over to the kitchen table and cleaned up, doing up what little dishes they dirtied and headed towards her bathroom, where she brushed her teeth and hair, and headed for bed. Guiltily, she left on her current clothes. They still smelled strongly of Naruto. She flung herself on her bed, breathing in deep, and immediately she thought of the scene on the couch. Could he really had been as worked up as she had?

Sakura thought of the entire night, and she unsurprisingly found that she wouldn't mind every night being that way. Everything with him was just so relaxed, yet exciting. She never had to be anything but herself, and that was one thing she loved about him. He took her for everything she was, the good and the bad, and never asked anything about her to change. And with a knowing thought, she knew that it was the exact way for her in regards to him. Everything with him just felt right.

She rolled over sheepishly. Maybe Ino was right. Maybe she should tell him. But when she thought it over, some things he said or did encouraged, but then again, some things he said or did countered it, and she was afraid to say anything. Groaning, she then realized how long it was going to take her to fall asleep at this rate, and she silently wished she had a warm, solid chest to rest her head against.

**A/N: Yeah, I couldn't help myself. I had to start another story. Looking through my profile, I have now realized I am a shipping slut, and I need to get my life together. ;_; But right now, as it has been for a while now, I am seriously shipping NaruSaku. Just saying. I have been working on this story a lot, because it's just so fun to write! I hope you all enjoy it, and could possibly wait another day or three until the next chapter, since I was so quick to give you the second, and it was so long? **

**Read, Review, and Enjoy! **

**Read on, **

**~Dayonight7 **


	3. Chapter 3

Cracking open her eyes, Sakura grumbled and shifted over to the cold side of the bed, where her nightstand stood on that edge with a glowing neon alarm clock. The numbers were blurry from sleep, but as she glanced at the window, she saw that it was still dark. Rubbing both eyes furiously, she glared at the green numbers again, and read that it was 6:27 am. Groaning, she shoved her face into the cool pillow under her, and debated whether or not to try to sleep in completely. She hadn't totally screwed her sleeping schedule as she had originally thought she would, considering she slept the entire day away yesterday. She really needed it though, and now with her chakra levels at their peak, and her sleep filling refreshed, she slid out of the warm covers and into the cold air of morning.

Sakura trudged to her bathroom, and after a hot shower and a scrubbing of her teeth, she dressed quickly in navy sweat pants and a white tank top. As she toweled her wet hair, she sighed in content at the feeling of finally being able to break out her lazy clothes again. It really had been too long. Maybe everybody _was _right. Not bothering with blow drying her hair, she dried it to the best of her abilities before combing it through and tossing it up into a messy damp bun. She then made her way to the kitchen, where she devoured half a burnt bagel with a crap load of cream cheese, an apple, and a glass of ice cold milk. Satisfied, she flopped onto the couch and flipped the TV on.

An hour or two later of catching up on her favorite adventure/drama show, she sighed and stood, stretching while eying her window, seeing rays of beautiful golden light spilling out onto her floor. Tempted, she walked to the window and her hopes had been confirmed; today was a drop dead gorgeous day. She pulled her lips into a tight line, feeling the restlessness kicking in already. Her original plan had failed her. No way could she stay inside all day! Walking back to her room, the clock read that it was almost 9:00 am, and Sakura figured the village was slowly buzzing about down at the market.

With a heavy sigh, she turned to her closet and reached for her red tank top and skirt, but instead found that she had subconsciously pulled out a flowing white summer dress. She stared at it, debating, and bite her lip. Last June her mother had visited another trading village and brought back this beautiful clothing for her. Sakura never had an occasion to wear it, and now, on her first relaxation day in the last two years, she decided she could try to look a bit girly that day. Besides, the weather forecast had foretold that today was going to be the warmest day for the week, and why let it go to waste?

Sighing in defeat, she walked over to her bathroom and quickly shaved, noticing in disgust how bad she had let herself get over the last week. Had she really been so busy as to let her legs grow into that of an apes? Applying odorless lotion (she couldn't stand the strong stuff) she slipped into the dress, the top hugging her chest and waist, flowing down her hips to mid thigh. It was a light material, layered beautifully, and she tied the brown leather belt that wrapped around her waist. She took down her messy bun and brushed her pink hair once again. Smiling at herself in the mirror, she giggled and twirled, finally feeling like a lady for the first time in _forever_. Maybe the dress wasn't that bad of an idea after all.

After a small dab of the perfume Ino had bought her last Christmas, and a white hair clip to hold back her bangs, she walked out of the house, closing the door and locking behind her. She still didn't trust purses, and kept all money tucked safely against her left breast in the folds of her bra. Ino and Naruto tease her relentlessly about it, but who was crying over lost money on more than one occasion? Certainly not her!

She turned the corner, and entered the market with a giant grin on her face. Walking towards the produce, she basked in the warmth of the morning sun as she grazed the ripe fruit with the tips of her fingers. She leaned over to grab a shiny red apple, rubbing her thumb across the ruby skin, when a gentle nudge at the base of her back sent a shiver up her spine. Whirling around, she glared behind her, to find the amused face of Sasuke Uchiha.  
"What?" she asked, slightly confused.

"Hn." he shrugged, leaning over to examine a fresh tomato. "I thought you did your grocery shopping on Sundays."

"Yeah, well, I have today off. And I figured I needed something to do, so I came here." she said, shoving a few apples into a paper bag.

"Why do you have today off?"

"I figured every one was right, and I had been working a little too much, and decided to have a few days to myself is all."

He raised an inky brow, staring at her. "Do you always dress like this when you go to the market? Or were you meeting someone?"

Sakura scoffed, and reached for a few peppers. "I just felt like giving the dress a shot. It's been in my closet for forever. It also helped that it was so nice today."

"Yeah, it is." he nodded, looking up to the sky as if to make sure. There was only a few fluffy clouds scattered across the blue.

"Where's-"

"Dobe's in training until two, if that's what you're wondering." he said before she even got the first word through her lips.

"Lonely?" she asked, smirking at him.

His mouth slanted in disapproval. "Hardly. And you?"

"Eh. I could do with company, or I could wallow in social rejection."

"I suspect you already do the latter on a daily basis."

"Oh, shut up!" She laughed despite her words. "And what are you're plans for today?"

"I was going to go work a bit more on the designs of the station before heading to train with Kakashi."

"Sounds like your day's set." she smiled, paying for her items and wishing the cashier a great day. Sasuke paid for his tomatoes silently. "What about your night?"

"Naruto's trying to get the guys to meet at the typical bar." he sighed, as if he wouldn't want to be caught dead with the blonde. Sakura knew better. "So I guess it's taking care of drunks."

"Yeah, today I'm just kind of hanging around and tonight Ino and the girls are dragging me to some ridiculous new bar I guess." she grumbled. "Not that I don't want to go, but I don't need another episode."

"Yeah, I remember your last one." he actually smiled, which was as close to a laugh she got from him.

"Other people do too, and that's the problem. Can't let that happen again." she shook her head, her pink hair swishing gently.

"It probably will" he admitted.

"Thanks for the confidence." She rolled her eyes at him.

"Yeah. Enjoy your day off, I guess." he shrugged. "I'd stay longer, but I promised I'd meet Kakashi." With a small wave, he turned the corner where his apartment was located.

Sakura stuck her tongue out at his back childishly, before giggling and turning back towards the shopping area. Walking a little ways, she decided to go browsing through the shops, thinking maybe it was about time she bought something for herself. Not ninja tools, not field medic equipment, or work clothes. Just something completely for her own personal pleasure. Shouldn't she be doing something that normal every now and again? She may be a Kunoichi, but she's still a young female.

Making her decision final, she walked towards the only department store in that section of the village, instantly feeling giddy and foreign as she walked back into the woman's department. She remembered the last time she tried coming here, she had gotten off work at the hospital early and needed something last minute to wear to Shizune's surprise birthday party. She had gotten so many weird stares for her work uniform, and the white coat that had draped over her with the ID plastered on the front, telling everybody and their grandmother's who she was. She had gotten so aggravated, she had literally snapped at a few women who stood in the back and whispered at her. Just because she's a Shinobi, doesn't mean she doesn't like shopping at nice places every now and again!

Now that she walked through the aisles of clothes, she felt weird, but for the exact opposite reason. Nobody was giving her the alienated stares that she was used to when she came to these kinds of stores. The clerk just smiled at her, and returned her attention to the customer she was assisting. Looking down at the beautiful white dress that adorned her body, she smiled to herself. Maybe she actually fit in for a change? She loved standing out for her achievements most of the time, but sometimes she wonders what it would be like if people didn't give her stares because of what she does as a career. It was a strange, yet a temporarily welcoming feeling, one that would be annoying in anything larger than very small doses.

Walking towards the clothes, she spent a few minutes browsing, but nothing really caught her eye. She wasn't too keen on jewelry, seldom wearing it besides the rare formal occasions. If something were to happen, the accessories only got the way. Still, she spent another few minutes admiring the sparkling gems, before heading towards the shoe area, which she loved to pick through. Seeing some of the more ridiculous styles, she look down at her own foot wear. Her ninja shoes were comfortable, easy to slip on, and looked great with almost anything. She actually found quite a few civilians wearing them. Sakura herself didn't own any shoes besides her Shinobi boots and sandals, and found herself eying the high heels.

The rosette walked over, picking up a crimson pair of open-toed stilettos. She fingered the strap that crossed the bridge of the toes, and picked at the other strap that stretched over the top of the foot. It had a darker shade of red, almost blood colored that faded into the bottoms. They were really gorgeous shoes, and Sakura bit her lip, chewing on it momentarily as she debated. She had a really sumptuous top she was planning on wearing tonight, and these shoes were _made _for that shirt. Then again, the heel on that thing was an inch away from stilts. Granted she worked in heels all the time, just like her master, but not heels that high.

"Beautiful, aren't they?" the saleswoman she saw when she first walked in approached her. "I bought a pair from the same designer a few weeks ago. I was the envy of the party."

Of course you were, Sakura thought with a mental roll of the eyes. "Yeah, they are really." she agreed nonetheless.

"On sale too." The woman pointed out with a manicured finger, and Sakura's eyes followed to the sign hanging on the shelf.

She nodded in approval. It was actually fairly cheap, considering where she was shopping. Probably because a girl died trying to walk in them. "I don't know." she admitted. "The heels are really high."

"Oh! But look at your legs!" she gushed, brushing the skirts to the dress aside to stare at her creamy calves, which she silently thanked Kami she shaved that morning. She didn't need to freak out a random saleslady with her Sasquatch legs. "They are so toned and shapely! Those heels with give them such a boost, you'll be turning all the heads in Konoha! Even females." she waggled her shaped eyebrows, and Sakura actually laughed. For a saleswoman, she was pretty quirky.

"Maybe. But I hardly buy anything for myself, and I work a lot, so I don't really go out much, so where else will I wear them?" she wondered more to herself than to the clerk, but the woman answered anyways.

"Have a special man in your life? You look old enough." she winked. "Surprise him one night, wear em to bed. I did that to _my _husband with that pair I told you about; he was drooling over me for _weeks_."

Sakura choked on her own air, because _sweet baby rays _that was too much information from an employee. But the blood that rushed to her face was mainly her own fault. Staring at the stilettos, she could only imagine strapping them on and strutting to the bedroom, to find a certain blonde stretched out on the bed, giving her a husky stare as she would walk over and straddle him, those heels being the only thing clinging to her body as-

"OK!" she hollered, mainly to stop her own train of thought, but it startled the poor lady. With an apologetic smile, she said, "I'll take them, I suppose. Who knows when I will need them?" Sakura convinced herself that she meant for the outing tonight, and not the later thought.

"Great!" she beamed, giving such a bright grin that the pink haired medic almost cringed at it. "Right this way madam!"

After the purchase at the department store, she found herself floating around the delicious aroma at the food stands. Her stomach growled in protest, and when she asked a passing consumer the time, it was nearly 1:30 pm. Her heart sped a bit when she realized that Naruto was done training soon, but her stomach once again reminded her of the amount of time she had waited for lunch. A single trip to the food stands later, she felt stuffed, and utterly fat. With a content sigh, she arrived at her apartment with no further interactions or complications.

Sakura put away her produce in the fridge after a thorough washing and headed for her bedroom. The same annoying alarm clock blared out that it was indeed five past two, and she smiled at the thought of her blonde teammate, and the fact that her first day off was going amazingly well. She then turned to the bathroom for the second time that day, and turned the faucet to the bathtub she rarely had time to use onto scolding. Now that she thought about it, she also neglected to even open the bathing basket her mother bought her for her birthday that year. With a shrug, Sakura pulled off the dress and threw it in the dirty hamper.

Grabbing the bottle, she twisted off the cap and was assaulted with a breath of cherry blossoms. She smirked. How fitting. After loading her bath water with enough bath salts, fizzes, and soap to be considered insane, she dipped into the steaming water and closed her eyes, rubbing her hands over her stomach and relishing in the silky feeling. It was an entire hour later before she reemerged and wrapped a towel tightly around her body. She then spent a few moments in the mirror plucking the mess she left her eyebrows in the past few months, and filed her nails down. Grimacing at her Tyrannosaurus Rex toes, she clipped them. She was not about to go to a nice place in open-toed shoes with that train wreck.

Pulling out an outfit from her closet, she giggled to herself. She was waiting for a chance to wear it again. The red halter top was stylishly fitting to her form, and it wasn't as crazily sexy as she'd seen some of the outfits at these kinds of places, but it was daring in it's own right. The halter top met at the tips of her breasts, showing the minimum cleavage, but it crossed at the middle, revealing her sides and almost all of her mid-back. She also pulled out a pair of black shorts that ended a little above mid-thigh, and completed with the shoes she just bought, she couldn't wait to show the girls. She really did feel like a woman today.

After dressing, she spent her last hour applying loose curls to her hair, and putting on a little bit of makeup. Twirling in the mirror, she smiled at herself. Wow, she seriously looked the hottest she's been in probably months, being too busy to actually dress up to go anywhere. Shoving a few twenties into her bra, she made her way quickly to Ino's, noticing that while the night air was still a little cool, it was way warmer than it had been in weeks. She knocked on the door, and almost immediately, Tenten answered.

"Whew, look at you, Haruno!" the brunette laughed, and Sakura shook her head.

"Look at yourself! Wow, Tenten!" she returned the gesture, impressed with her outfit.

The weapons master really outdid herself. The pink top she chose clung her seriously toned body, and the deep V revealed the milky section of skin between her breasts. She crimped her chocolate tresses, allowing them to be free from their buns tonight. She also chose shorts tonight, but hers were of a light jean material.

"Thank you. Now get in here before a homeless man tries to pick you up."

Sakura entered the home, and with a knowing direction, strutted towards the living room, where she saw Ino straightening the last strand of Hinata's hair. Ino was clad in a beautiful royal blue T-shirt that ended at the top of her belly button, and a pair of dark jeans to match. Her blonde hair was swept back into a beaded pin, and she had gone with a more smoky eye look. Hinata was the shyest of all of them, but she was in a miniskirt and deep purple top that revealed about as much cleavage as the rosette's own crimson halter, but she had more chest to show for it. Everybody looked amazing tonight, and Sakura was mentally relieved she hadn't overdone it.

"So, did you get a look at this place before we just waltz in there like we know what we're doing?"

Ino huffed and sat down the straighter, fannin gout Hinata's hair, and looked really satisfied with her handiwork. "Yes, and it's really swank! They also accept our ID, I checked."

Sakura nodded happily. "Great! It would have sucked to get in there and not be able to have a drink or two."

In a normal setting, they wouldn't even be allowed to set foot into a place like that, but many business owners have taken pity on anybody who works in the Shinobi career, because everyday may very well be your last, and a lot of people tried to live up life as much as possible. The format of an ID that a Shinobi acquires is much different from that of a civilians, so as long as they are over sixteen and posses their ID, they are pretty much good to go.

"So, are we all ready?" the blonde chirped, and when everybody agreed, they followed Ino out the door.

Walking up to the building, Sakura gaped in astonishment. Ino had severely talked down the place that stood in front of her. While the brick building was that of any tavern the rosette had ever been to, the line outside and the deep vibrating coming from the inside were clear signs that this wasn't any old bar, Konoha had constructed it's possible first ever _club_. Gulping, Ino lead them directly in front of the line, where just like in the cliché movies she used to watch, an intimidating big guy guarded the front. Sakura groaned. Ino was going to get punched in the face by a big dude, and Sakura was going to have to heal her broken nose. Just great.

"Hey, Kane." Ino greeted flirtatiously, and Sakura stared at her like a fish out of water. What was this idiot doing? "Think we could go on ahead in?" she asked, raising her brows.

'Kane' grinned and pushed open the big metal door, Sakura guiltily looked back at the people in line who were now grumbling in protest, and shook her head. How the hell did Ino pull this trick off? Once they reached the inside, Sakura gripped the blue eyed girl by her upper arm.

"How the hell do you know that guy, Pig?" she hissed, glaring. "Aren't you dating Chouji?"

"Yes, I am" she said plainly, and jerked her arm back. "Kane was a Jounin I met during the Great War, way back. He decided to move here from Grass. He wanted to open up a club." she shrugged, grinning at the atmosphere. "And he said if I wanted to go, he'd let me in. Pretty snazzy, isn't it?"

"But I thought you said you saw a banner for it when you were walking home from work."

"I did, Forehead." she rolled her baby blues. "And when I came in here to check for acceptable ID, I ran into him at the front. Is it that hard to believe?" Sakura let her hands fall from her hips and shook her head. "Good, because I don't know about you guys, but I didn't feel like waiting in that long ass line. Now come on, I want to get party drunk!" she whooped, and squeezed her way into the shaking mob of bodies in the middle of the dance floor.

Sakura stared across the tiny horizon of the building from where she stood at the front. Half of the people of the vicinity was crowded together in the center of the room, others scattered on the edges of the wall or clumped together at the bar. The rosette shrugged, and decided to make her way to the bar. She'd need a drink or two before she was able to dance in her heels. She counted on her suburb balance skills she's honed from years of a Kunoichi's life to carry her through the wriggling bodies and to the bartender. She had to shout her order over the booming music, and after she received her drink, she turned to find an extremely attractive redhead giving her an eye. She smiled politely and took a swig of her drink.

Who knows? Maybe she'll be able to met someone different?

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"Chug! Chug! Chug!" the chorus of men shouted, pumping their arms as Kiba and Chouji raced to slam a beer before the other.

Sasuke rolled his onyx eyes at their utter stupidity. Now for the annoying blonde, he could understand the attraction to the pudgy man he supposed, but what the hell does somebody like Hinata Hyuga see in Kiba? Sasuke shook his head in wonder, before turning to shoot a glance at the other blonde at his side. Naruto was never one to drink very much, and Sasuke knew that after about two beers, he was done. His best friend was laughing at the idiotic display in front of him, and leaned over to grab a peanut from the tray that was set out for the customers. Feeling eyes on him, the blonde shot him a look.

"What is it, Teme?" he asked, cracking open the nut.

"Just admiring your ugly, Dobe." he shrugged, taking a swig from his drink.

"Ha ha, anybody ever told you that you should be a comedian?"

"Not that I know of."

"Well, you shouldn't. Your jokes are terrible." Naruto said, turning back to the now vomiting Kiba. "They'd throw rotten tomatoes at you."

Sasuke frowned. "That is a waste."

Naruto rolled his eyes and looked down at his beer, swirling the frothy beverage and watched it twirl inside the glass bottle. "What do you think Sakura is doing right now? Should I have invited her?"

"Why, so she could see this?" he snorted, pointing at a laughing Chouji, who was posing like a Captain Morgan model, his foot on the still bent over puking dog master.

Naruto barked out a laugh. "Yeah, totally."

"No, she's out with Ino, Hinata, and Tenten tonight, I do believe that's she told me today anyway."

The blonde man's brows laced together. "You saw her today?"

"Yeah, in the market. We bumped into each other. I was getting tomatoes and she was all dressed up today for some reason."

"Why?"

"Like I know." he scoffed.

"And she's going out tonight?" he echoed lowly, and he very loosely put two and two together. Was she...seeing someone?

"I know what you're thinking, and you should just stop. You and thinking are very bad together. She's out with the girls tonight." Sasuke said, and turned back to the now wrestling duo, taking a sip.

Naruto still had an uneasy feeling in the pits of his stomach. If men used wing-men, could women use wing-women? Was Sakura trying to pick up a guy? Why would she need to? Why in the hell would she _want _to? The blonde started to slightly panic. She never really messed with guys at all, so why now? The last guy she was interested in was Sasuke, and she made clear to everyone that she left that behind her, so what was she doing?

"Hey, Teme?"

"What, Dobe?"

"Did Sakura ever say where she was going, exactly?"

"No, why?"

"I was just wondering." he shrugged. "Must be a pretty cool place if they went there instead of here, as we all usually do."

"Probably somewhere where they can dance." the raven haired man said, shaking his head. "You know women and their dancing."

Immediately, Naruto felt a foreign surge of feelings. If she went somewhere where she can dance, then that meant she was probably dancing with another guy. That was not right. A lot of men are utter slime balls, he knew that first hand, being a man himself. They'd try to hurt her. The last thing she really needed from him was physical protection—hell, she could probably hold her own against Sasuke if she had to—but Naruto felt an obligation to protect her from getting hurt emotionally. He couldn't bear the thought of her being as broken as when Sasuke left. So with a sigh, he stood.

"I had my two beers. Try to break them two up, will you?" he laughed at the still fighting Chouji and Kiba. "I'm going to pay my bill and call it a night. A glorious steaming bowl of instant ramen calls to me, and-"

"Just shut up and go." Sasuke shook his head.

Naruto laughed, scratching the back of his head, before he walked to the end of the bar and laid down his tab. After paying, he leaned forward on his arms.

"Do you know a place around here that someone could, uh, go dance at..?" he trailed, and the bartender looked at him as if he grew a third head.

There was a long pause, both of them staring at each other as the bartender polished the sake glass he was holding.

"Are you a transvestite?" the old man grunted seriously, and Naruto blossomed red.

"N-NO! What?! No! I was just wondering if there was somewhere nice I could take my girlfriend, you old pervert." he rushed out, glaring at the man.

The old man shrugged. "A new place opened down the street. About five blocks west. I heard some young folk talking about it. Keeps me up, all that crazy thumping." he grumbled grumpily. "Damn kids..."

"Thank you." Naruto said hurriedly, wanting to escape that awkward episode as soon as possible.

Once outside, he turned to the left in the direction the old man was talking about. He walked about three blocks before he began to hear the unmistakable bass. Upon turning on the corner, he cried out at the sheer size of the line. Did Sakura seriously wait in this god damn line? He could try to sneak in, but a quick chakra scan told him that there was guards lacing this place; and those were only the ones who bothered with making their senescence known. He really didn't want to cause a scene, so with a groan, he took his place in line.

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Sakura rolled her body sensuously, having lost feeling in her feet two hours ago. She had had more drinks that she could count on two hands, and she couldn't remember the last time she felt as relaxed and good as she did in that moment. She had danced with a few guys who felt that they were up to it, and she currently was dancing with a really cute strawberry blonde she found up at the bar. He had paid for her last drink after she ordered it, and she was increasingly glad. All night men were buying her and the girls drinks. If she had to purchase all the drinks she had that night, she would be broke already.

So with an extra body roll, she felt his hands grip her hips. He wasn't moving into any alarming territories yet, and she hadn't let anybody she danced with get that far. She stopped them real quick. She may be here to dance and drink and have a good time, but she was _not _like that, and as drunk as she has ever been, she has never forgotten that. There was only one man she could think of touching, and he wasn't there.

"You're a great dancer." he leaned forward, whispering huskily against her ear.

"Mmm." she leaned back. "Thanks." With a turn of the tables from the DJ, she twisted her body around to face him. "You're pretty great, for a guy."

The man threw his head back and laughed. "Very rarely do I see a sexist woman."

"I'm not sexist, I just try not to lie." she grinned at him, and began to shake her hips to the beat of the new song that had just started.

With a quick glance, she saw a man flirting with Tenten against the bar. Ever since Neji's death, the brunette hasn't let any of her feelings go, despite the time that has passed, and Sakura didn't blame her. It was obvious to everyone, her feelings for him, and now she has to deal with the loss right when she was the age for dating. It was really...sad. For everyone. Maybe one day Tenten would be ready to accept the loss and move on, but it was not tonight. She was still accepting drinks and making small talk, but it wasn't really progressing any farther than that.

Hinata was also talking to a guy, sitting by the wall and sipping an apple cosmos. Hinata had a boyfriend, Kiba Inuzuka. After she had officially confessed her feelings for Naruto and he politely turned her down, Kiba came out a few months later with his feelings for her, and they had been dating ever since. Even if she was crazy about her teammate, it didn't hurt to accept drinks and talk. Almost all the guys here knew of her and Ino's relationships, but they still tried. Sakura giggled and dipped, thinking to herself it was actually kind of amusing.

There it was again, Sakura realized with a sigh. Another of her friends who had gotten together with a teammate. Tenten would most definitely be with Neji right now if he were still with them. Maybe Ino was right? Maybe almost all Kunoichis end up with a comrade. If only that were absolutely true. Sai was an emotionless douche-bag, Kakashi and Yamato were way too old, Sasuke was out of the question, and there was a possibility that Naruto wouldn't want her anymore. She didn't have an interest in anyone else, and her situation seemed hopeless. This wasn't good. She was still too sober to think about all this. That was not her goal.

As if he could read her mind, her current boy pressed her close. "Need a drink?" he rumbled against her ear again.

She pressed her lips against the shell of his ear as well. "Yeah, if you don't mind."

With a tug on her wrist, he led her to the bar, where the barmaid looked up expectantly. "What can I get for you?" she shouted over the music.

"Kamikaze." he hollered back, and turned to Sakura expectantly.

She scanned the top board. "Black Velvet." she answered, and the barmaid nodded, setting to work.

The man to her side gave her a surprised look, which in return she only grinned knowingly and winked. The drink were pushed forward and he paid, which she thanked not only the woman, but the man to her side. Giving him another once over, she noticed that he was indeed _very _good looking. His strawberry hair was stylishly messy and slightly spiked, and she could tell it was naturally that way by a quick glance. He had adorable dimples, a dazzling white smile, and smoky green eyes. He was definitely more lasting as her dancing/drinking partner, already two times longer than the other three.

"I don't even know your name." she admitted, taking a deep swig of her drink. It burned going down, and she loved it.

He smirked at her. "Kaito."

"I'm-"

"Sakura Haruno." When she stared at him suspiciously, he merely laughed. "Anybody who doesn't know that are either stupid or colorblind. Who doesn't know that our Head Medic and Chief has bubblegum for hair?"

"Hey, watch it." she growled playfully, taking a deep drink of her drink. It was very rich. A strange look passed over his handsome features. "What is it?" And as soon as she asked, she felt it too. "Oh."

"I didn't know your teammate was coming." he stated, with a puzzled look.  
"I didn't either." she admitted, and downed the rest of her drink. That one did it. She began to tilt a bit. Maybe she shouldn't have gotten such a strong drink. He looked down and saw her empty glass. "Need another?"

"N-No. I'm fine. I probably should stop."

"You sure?"

Sakura glanced around the club, and found who she was looking for. Ino was dancing, random guys trying to approach her, in which she would just politely wave off. She needed to go get her and have her steer Naruto away. She didn't want to be one of those cliches and have herself go all stupid around the blonde man and try to throw herself at him, or say something completely horrifying. She turned to Kaito apologetically.

"I think I have to go."

"Oh? Past your curfew?" he chuckled.

"Sorta." she said, and she saw a flash of blonde spikes enter the door and she began to slowly panic. She turned to the green eyed man. "Thank you, for everything. But I have to go. Like now."

His brows furrowed together. "Can I see you again? I really thought we-"

"Sakura." She heard a familiar deep voice rumbled, and she shivered in excitement. She turned around slowly, and her nose almost brushed against a warm chest, the heat radiating onto her already hot body. She swallowed hard, and the smell of him was making her dizzy with need. Her eyes flickered to his face, and she saw he was glaring at Kaito. She then turned to the other man, who was staring at him with just as much intensity.

Sakura cleared her throat. "See you later, Kaito." she called, and he broke the eye contact, giving her a quick side smile before nodding and disappearing in the crowd. She turned back to Naruto, who was still seething. The aura he was giving off almost scared her. "Naru...Naruto?"

His blue eyes darted down to hers, and he relaxed a bit. "Come on. I'm going to take you home."

Sakura scoffed. "I don't know who you think you are, Naruto Uzumaki, but you are _not _my father. I don't need you to do that."

"You're drunk. Let me take you home." he said gently, grabbing her elbow.

She snatched it back. "No. I don't need an escort. What right did you have in scaring off Kaito like that?"

"He doesn't need to be taking advantage of you like that!" he growled.

"Taking advantage of me? He was buying me drinks and dancing. He kept his hands where they should be." she sniffed. "He was actually a pretty decent guy."

"You don't know that."

"You don't know that he's not!" she countered.

Naruto sighed. Looking around, he saw watchful eyes. Not good. "Can we take this outside? I'll walk you home."

"Ugh. Unbelievable." she cried, but followed him out nonetheless. When he opened the door, the air hit her. It was still bearable, but it had gotten nippier while she was inside, and she shivered a bit. "Why are you acting like this?"

He noticed her shivering, and shrugged off his jacket. Sakura noticed with a frown that it was all black instead of with his typical splash of orange. He draped it over her. "I'm just trying to keep you from getting hurt again."

"But I don't need your help. Naruto, I appreciate the thought, but how will I find a decent guy if all you do is shelter me?" she asked softly, and instantly regretted it. She didn't want to find another decent guy. She wanted him.

"I just...I...I don't like the way any of them looked at you. As if you're a piece of meat." he gritted out. "Why are you dressed like that?"

"Like what?" she asked, tilting her head to the side playfully, pouting.

He ground his teeth as she giggled. "_That!_" He pointed at her accusingly.

"What's wrong?" she laughed, finding it amusing. Now she knew what this was about, and it made her giddy. "You don't like it?"

With a little push, Sakura slid the jacket to her elbows and pulled back, revealing her outfit once more. She watched in satisfaction as his eyes slowly trailed her body. Many men had done that to her tonight, even Kaito, but nothing compared to the heat that poured into her veins and spread like wildfire. Her stomach tightened, and it wasn't a bad feeling.

"I like it." he spoke slowly, and with a strange strain on it.

She couldn't help herself. She walked up to him, her hips lazily swinging. "Really?"

"Yes." he nodded. As she tried to slid her arms to his neck, he picked her up and swung her over his shoulder, laughing as she squirmed angrily. "You are amazingly drunk, like, wow how are you not slurring your head off?" he chuckled nervously. "Let's get you on home! Good thing I got to you! Imagine if I had been a stranger!"

Despite his words, she felt him unnaturally tense on the way home, and he wouldn't let her down the entire way back. He was also very quiet, and when he dropped her off, instead of staying like he normally did for free food, he just muttered a quiet goodbye and left quickly. Sakura looked down and kicked off her shoes, pouting, tears starting to gather in her eyes. Of course she screwed everything up. She shouldn't have even messed with him, playfully or not. Now he's going to think she's a complete nut job.

Sakura padded quietly into the kitchen, pouring herself a glass of water and sat at her dining table, alone. That was the first time they had an argument in a very long time, no matter how tiny it was. Was it because she _was _acting silly tonight? Or was it for the reason she hoped for? Sighing, she already felt a headache coming on, and it wasn't from the alcohol. She needed to go to bed, and try to forget that this entire incident happened.

**A/N: I feel like I'm going to get a lot of hate for this, I have no idea why. :S **

**So yeah, I hope you enjoyed it! Not a whole lot of NaruSaku in it, but enough to satisfy, neh? Wow I'm popping these chapters out amazingly quick, I'm surprising even myself! Haha. I think it's because I already have an idea of what I want to do with this and where I want this to go, and the fact that it's summer and I have no life! :D Hope you enjoyed! **

**Read, Review, Enjoy! **

**Read on, **

**~Dayonight7**


	4. Chapter 4

Sakura bit her lip, staring at the phone that rested on it's charger in front of her. She had to make the call. One, because she needed to apologize to Ino for leaving so soon without telling her, and another to talk through the entire embarrassing night. She just didn't feel like getting yelled at that morning, already feeling terrible, and she just didn't want to face the fact that she tried flirting with Naruto, and he rejected her. Shaking her head, she took a deep breathe for courage and snatched it up, dialing the numbers she knew by heart. The ringing sounded way longer than she expected, and when the receiver picked up, she heard a lot of shuffling and groaning, before she actually spoke.

"Hello?" came a groggy reply, the voice dry and rusty.

"Hey." Sakura sighed.

"FOREHEAD. What the actual hell?" Immediately Ino perked up over the phone, sounding angry and relieved. "One minute you were there in the club, flirting with this super yummy guy, and the next, I see Naruto dragging you out of the club. It seemed like a shouting match. Why, oh why, did you fall for the cliché?"

"Shut up for a minute, will you?" Sakura grumbled, pinching the bridge of her nose. "And I did kind of fall for the cliché."

"Let me guess." The blonde girl shifted in her bed, and Sakura could hear the rustling of sheets as she sat up. "You got drunk, started flirting with a guy because that's just what we do best." The rosette snorted at her friend. "He decides to come ruin the party, sees you with a guy, gets jealous, just takes you because he can, totally alpha males that other guy, drags you home and ravages you in bed? Typical cheesy moment, am I right?"

"Uh, definitely not that last bit. There was no ravaging being done. But I do think that I...tried to get a little flirty? I don't know."

"Flirty as in how?"

"From what I remember, I tried to wrap my arms around him or something, and he kinda shoved me off." Sakura cringed at the sting of the memory.

"Well, you were a little gone there. Maybe he was playing the good guy card? Not wanting to really start anything with your drunken mind." That thought helped sooth her panic immensely.

"Making me sound like an alcoholic here, Pig."

She could almost envision a shrug. "You are Tsunade's apprentice. It's only a matter of time."

"Oh shut up." Sakura giggled lightheartedly.

"By the way forehead, I was wondering, why flirt with other guys if you're interested in Naruto? Just doesn't make sense to me. I mean, I get that it's ok to talk and dance and accept drinks, but it looked like you guys were actually getting pretty friendly."

"We were only talking. And, well..." Sakura looked at the wall guiltily, and pulled her lips into a thin line. "I had to make sure."

"Make sure of _what_? Why are you over thinking this?" Ino groaned, and by the squeaks in the phone, Sakura knew that she had thrown herself back on her bed dramatically.

"Because, if it was just a phase, or just a thought...I would have been interested in other guys, right? Like, I would be able to look at another guy and think, wow, I would totally date you."

"And? What happened?"

Sakura paused, reanalyzing the entire night, now that she has a clear mind. "I...honestly...could only think of Naruto." she sighed. "I saw Kaito—that guy you saw me with?—and all I could think, was 'hey, this guy is pretty cool, I would love to be his friend!'. And in the midst of the entire night, all I could think of was when I'd see Naruto again..."

Sakura sat on her bed, cross legged, and finally caved. She couldn't deny it any longer. It wasn't a phase, and it wasn't going away. She undoubtedly liked Naruto Uzumaki, and she was still scared to tell him. There wasn't enough signs that he still felt the same on his part, and she didn't want to burden him with her feelings. He didn't deserve that. But she will tell him one day, because she knew it deep down inside that she wouldn't be able to move on to another man until she knew how he felt. Actually, sitting there thinking about it, even if he rejected her, she wouldn't be too sure she'd be able to move on.

"And when I saw that flash of blonde spike, my heart raced."

"Aw, look at you, Forehead. Sounding like a cheesy novel." She could hear the smirk in the blonde's voice.  
"Shut up! Kami, do you even know what that means?"

"Not in my dictionary." Ino paused. "If you were so excited, why did you get so aggravated when he dragged you home?"

"Alcohol and Tsunade's inherited stubborn will, with a mix of troubled mind and confused feelings doesn't really call for a peaceful night, does it?"

"Hmm, I understand." The blonde hummed, and Sakura sagged against her headboard. "Well, I still think you should come out."

"Not only do you make me sound like an alcoholic, but a lesbian too?"

"Who knows your life behind doors? Oh wait, I do! And you're madly in love with a blonde idiot and too chicken shit to say anything about it."

Sakura sputtered on her own breathe, turning a mad shade of red. "Nobody said _anything _about being madly in love with _anybody_."

"It's totally obvious Sakura, to everyone but you and Naruto. And quite frankly? I think he likes you too. You're both just stubborn idiots who are too scared of rejection to do anything about going for what you want." Ino scoffed. "I swear, I understand that you feel terrible about what happened when you were that nasty little brat you were to him when we were kids-"

"Hey! That's not-"

"And I can understand. But the past is the past. And you both already talked through the entire "confession" incident with you-"

Sakura gaped. "Ino, that is a _taboo_. We don't talk about that."

"Oh, whatever, since when do I listen to you?" she cackled.

"Point taken."

"Down to the roots of this, if you're going to keep sweating about it, why not do something about it?"

Sakura sat in a moment of silence, swimming in her own thoughts. Coming to her very final decision, she let out a long breath in the phone. "I'll tell him. Not today! Probably not tomorrow! But when the time is right."

"Ok. Well, seeing as I have one of the worst hangovers ever, and you called to wake me up at...8:47 am, I am going to go back to sleep, and hopefully not cry at work in an hour."

"Ok. Oh, and thanks, Ino." Sakura smiled.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever."

With a click of the phone, the rosette set it back on the charger and stood to stretch. She didn't really have too bad of an after-party hangover, and decided that she would pick today to go sign up for a mission. She really needed to get out and clear her head a little better before confronting Naruto. Yesterday was really all the day of rest she needed, and she felt like going back out onto the field and kicking some ass. With that thought, she hopped out of bed and into her closet, picking out her typical Kunoichi clothing and slipping on her head band in it's usual spot in her hair. With the application of her gloves and Shinobi boots, she started towards the Hokage's tower.

She smiled warmly at the usual guards at the door, ones she became familiar with when studying under Tsunade, and a strange thought passed over her. In another month or so, she'll be opening this door to find _Naruto_ sitting behind the desk. Turning in reports to _Naruto_, signing onto missions to _Naruto_, being _Naruto's_ official physician. It was a sad thing, yet her heart swelled with pride. As she turned the door knob to the office, she opened it to find the exact same blonde leaning over the desk, listening intently to Tsunade as she points out certain things in a document. She noticed with a frown that he wasn't wearing his typical clothing, but actually a black long-sleeved shirt with the orange swirls on the side, and black ninja cargo pants. Why the hell has he been dressing differently lately?  
"See right here? That clause?" she said, jabbing a finger on the paper. He nodded. "That's bullshit. They're trying to pull one over our eyes. Konoha would be delivering half of it's original quota more, for only a fraction in return." Sakura cleared her throat, and Tsunade's eyes never left the document. "Yes, I see you, Sakura. Take a seat." She rolled up the paper, and tucked it into her desk. Naruto's blue eyes snapped to hers, and the rosette gave him a proud smile, in which he returned. "What can I do for you?"

Sakura straightened up. "I want a mission."

Tsunade raised a honey brow, and the pink haired medic noticed Naruto's deep frown. "Oh really?"

"Yes, Shishou."

"The hospital getting boring?"

"Not really. Well, I feel more like a doctor than a Shinobi of the Leaf Village, and while I understand I am both, I still want to feel up to par with the Kunoichi aspect of my career." she said in a final tone.

The older woman nodded slowly, processing it. "I can give you a mission. Things are getting pretty slow at the hospital, from the reports you've handed me. They can manage on their own for a while. There's nothing really pressing on our plates for once, so I suppose you could have your pick. Anything in particular you're looking for?" she asked as she opened her desk and shuffled through the mission files. She noticed smugly that she totally skipped D, C, and the lower B ranks immediately.

"I'm not being too picky. Just nothing too boring, and something challenging. But I want to be here for the festival, no doubt. So I don't want to be gone too long." she added, shooting Naruto a huge grin. He looked relieved, and a strange look passed over his features. Sakura wanted to analyze it longer, but noticed her master sitting up once more, and tore her eyes off his face and onto hers. "I'm looking at a few days to a week assignment?"

"I can do that." she said, and with a synchronized plop, she tossed three folders onto the table. "You have your choice of body guard accompaniment for a Lord of Fire. Very rich, and also very targeted by a group of top notch thugs. If that doesn't do you, I also have a scroll retrieval for the nearby village of Kumi, where they're holding it seems to be laced with traps." Tsunade shrugged. "If those don't fit your fancy, I also have an assassination request for a small group of bandits out on the main roads to Suna. All very quick, all very exciting, and pretty challenging. What will it be?"

Humming a single note, Sakura reached forward and scanned over all three files. She wasn't really interested in scroll retrieval. She actually wanted to fight with somebody for a change. While body guarding was challenging enough, she really wasn't in the mood to deal with a stuck up Lord of Fire. She's dealt with them plenty of times, and they feel that anybody who weren't noble should worship the ground they walk on. That, and she didn't want to be reminded of the job she always got stuck with as a Genin. The only sure way of knowing absolute combat was the assassination job, and by the looks of it's folder, the bandits were Chounin level at best. She'd be back within the week.

"I think number three is the winner." Sakura smirked, picking up the folder as Tsunade put away the other two.

"Nice choice." Her master nodded in approval, but as she looked to Naruto, obvious worry was etched in his face. He didn't want her to go, especially on an assassination mission, and she knew it. Despite that, she wanted to get out and enjoy the outside world, and also have a little bit of excitement. She was a grown woman, and could take care of herself. Also, she swore when she stood in the mirror the other day naked, she saw an extra roll. Unacceptable. "When's the soonest you can be ready?"

"Tomorrow morning, if that's ok with you, Shishou."

"Great. Gives me time to get your passport and paperwork ready, along with procrastinating on my own paperwork." she answered with a straight face, leaning back in her chair.

Sakura giggled at the older woman before standing and bowing. "Thank you, Shishou. I will be here first thing in the morning!"

"Yeah. Although some of us don't want to be." she huffed, and opened back up the drawers to shuffle through more documents and folders.

Sakura opened the door and left into the hallway. She nodded her goodbyes to the guards, who nodded back to her through their Anbu masks, and as soon as she hit an empty section of the hallway, she felt a tug on her wrist. Turning around, she knew who it was immediately. Naruto stared down at her, his blue eyes intense. She felt her throat go dry and she tried in vain to swallow none existent spit to try to wet it. He always did this to her, without him even knowing it. This boy—well, man, but she'd never say that junk to his handsome face—had the power to make her the angriest she's ever been, the saddest, the happiest, and make her insides turn to jello, all by just _being _there.

"Sakura-Chan." he hesitated. "I was just wondering..."

"Yeah?" she asked, quirking a pink brow.

"Are you taking this mission so soon, because of last night?" he asked, guilt flashing through his oceanic orbs.

"No! What? Are you retarded?" she cried. "Of course not! What happened last night that I would want to run away on an assignment? I seriously just felt like a bump on a log and wanted to get out there. Really." she sighed, closing her eyes briefly. "This has nothing to do with you, Naruto, honestly."

"If you say so." he breathed out, letting her slender wrist slid from his warm hand. "I just didn't want to feel like I drove you out or something." he chuckled nervously, shrugging.

Sakura watched the gesture, and suddenly noticed how broad his shoulder are getting. She had the strange urge to place her hands on them, and she quickly squashed that down. Wow, was she acting like a complete nut job. A gropey, hands on nut job that shouldn't be having these thoughts about her best friend, but she is anyways because she deeply likes him, but is too scared to say anything yet. Ugh.

"No way." she smiled, and rolled her pretty jade eyes. Stopping for a minute, she noticed the opportunity, and seized it. "What..._did _happen last night that would make you think I'd try to run off?" She knew, but she wanted to hear the version from his mouth.

"I mean, I practically dragged you out of the bar from that Kaito guy-"

"No big deal. I wasn't really interested in anybody there anyways. I was only making conversation."

"You sure?"

"Yes." she laughed, pushing his shoulder playfully. "Totally not interested in some guy I met in the bar. It's fun to dance and drink and talk with somebody, but I have higher standards than that. I want something special like a relationship with somebody a little more personal to me." she answered, and quickly stopped herself from looking at him the way she did whenever she thought of _those _things. But before she had adverted her eyes to the ground, she could have almost sworn she saw him stop breathing for a minute. Since both of them were quiet, she gently lifted her gaze back to him, to notice that while he had resumed breathing, it seemed a little faster than normal. "Well? What else happened?" she inquired softly.

"I-uh. I took you home against your will, and I think at one point you..." he trailed, trying to find the words, but was at a loss. "You tried putting your hands on me? Or something."

"I what?!" she exclaimed.  
"N-No! Nothing like that! You tried wrapping your arms around me? I don't know. All I saw was your hands trying to make contact with my skin and I panicked thinking 'holy crap you are drunk as hell' and carted you off to your house." he sighed. "That's all. But I figured you were upset about it or something."

Sakura was quiet for a few moments, her lips pulled into a tight line, and she stared sideways at the ground. "Oh."

"'Oh'? What does 'Oh' mean?" he shrieked, and for a man who was about to be Hokage, it was actually kind of comical. "Sakura-Chan?!"

"Nothing. It's nothing."

"Ok, I may be stupid and oblivious to a lot of things, but as many times as I have been slapped for it, I know that when a girl says 'nothing' with that face, it's something." he chastised, lifting her chin so her eyes met his. "What is it?"

"Nothing."

"Liar."

"Gah! I mean, I don't want to sound weird but..." she broke off, feeling completely out of place. "Is it...is it so bad being touched by me? I mean, I understand I was drunk and all, but...It's stupid. I should have left it at nothing, sorry." she shook her head, refusing to let the lurking tears of embarrassment even sting her eyes. "Shouldn't you be getting back to Tsunade anyways?"

Naruto stood there for a minute, and Sakura could feel his eyes burning into her, but she refused to meet them. She couldn't. She already made a bit of a fool of herself, asking such a strange and out of place question. She probably put him in a tight spot. She really didn't want to burden him anymore than she had to.

"Sakura-Chan." he began, stepping closer to her. She actually felt her chest bump slightly against his, and the way his heat rolled off his body and engulfed hers had her nearly groaning with the desire to embrace him, and to feel that heat against her lips. This boy was like a personal heater, twenty-four/seven. "You shouldn't ask a question like that."

Again, the guilt and embarrassment took over, and suddenly, all she wanted to do was scoot awkwardly away from the blonde and to crawl underneath a big rock where she would live out the rest of her days. Wow. Her life is spiraling downward at a more alarming rate than normal. But instead of him scolding her like she half expected, he once again wrapped his rough and her smooth wrist. Her shock was written all over the place, and she flickered her jade eyes to his baby blues, and saw no hint of his usual playfulness. He was seriously serious right now, and it scared her and thrilled her simultaneously. He parted his lips to say something, but a call down the hall interrupted him.

"Naruto-San! Hokage-sama told me specifically to tell you, 'to stop doing obscenities to my apprentice and get your ass back into my office before I breaks out the sake'. My apologies, Naruto-San. But orders are orders." he sounded genuinely sorry and embarrassed, and turned away to head back down the hall.

Sakura thought that was that, and gently tried to remove herself from the blonde. His gripped tightened slightly, and she nearly threw herself in cardiac arrest.

"Tonight, come over to my place. Around six?" She gulped, and shivered with a tiny nod. "You are going away tomorrow for a mission after all, and it's what we usually do." he said with a shrug, which felt odd with his hand on her wrist, but she still felt excited, despite the usual routine of hanging out before a mission. "Oh, and Sakura-Chan?"  
"Yeah?"

Naruto leaned forward as he tugged her wrist to the side, his lips _almost _brushing her ear. "_I love your touches._"

And with that he walked away, Sakura not seeing his face from behind the spiky blonde chunks that fell in in front of it. She felt her heart race even faster, and she knew if she didn't calm down she was going to have a premature myocardial infarction. Her legs shook slightly, and she felt hot all over her body. Cursing, she shook her head and almost jogged out of the tower, holding her hand to her chest. Was she really getting this excited from having him that close? His breath brushing her ear as he leaned in so close she could almost taste him?

No. It was the fact that it was one huge step towards the way she wanted things to go. It was a sign that he didn't push her away last night because he didn't want her, but because Ino was right and he didn't want to let anything get anywhere with her in an alcohol induced state. If Ino was right about that little bit, was she right about him liking her in return? Or maybe he never stopped liking her?

Her head swam as she tried her best to walk to Yamanaka's Floral Shop. She had to drop in to see her other best friend for a minute. She needed to talk to her about what happened and let her analyze it for a minute. That's what she always did with Ino. Afterward, she'll get a bite to eat, pack her things for the mission tomorrow and set them out, and then get ready to head to Naruto's.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXX

_Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit, holy shit, holy shit, holy shit. I seriously just did that. _

Naruto turned away from Sakura, figuring he looked as cool as he had hoped, and as soon as he turned the corner of the hallway and sensed Sakura dash out into the street, his face turned into a giant red tomato and found himself nearing the state of passing out. What the hell was he thinking? She's going to get all weird-ed out by that, and give him another 'Naruto, I am your friend, not your _special _friend' speeches again tonight. He hasn't had one of those in two years. He doesn't want another one.

He's tried his best to rein in his feelings, and so far, it's been working out fine and dandy. At one point, he was almost positive he was over her. Done. Complete. No more seeing freaking pink every time he closed his goddamn eyes. But that whole operation went down the toilet a few months ago, when he woke up on a hospital bed after a rather nasty mission, the way she was looking so beautiful in her white coat with her hair up in a bun and face deprived of makeup, nearly crying at the sight of his open and blurry eyes, as if that was the single greatest thing she had ever seen. Sure, that scenario has happened on several occasions to both parties, but when she threw herself into his stiff arms, she held onto him with a vigor he had never felt from her before.

And right then, he knew the whole 'try to deal with being friend-zoned forever and forget about your feelings' personal mission of his was a no-go. He decided to deal with his feelings on his own, brooding within him like a neglected tea pot. But here lately, he's felt different vibes from her. Similar ones that he's used to giving to her. The fact that she didn't blatantly yell at him for being a pervert or smack him upside the head when he pulled that little number in the hallway was proof enough. Or the way she tried to grab onto him last night. He remembers the first night she drank, and the very few times she did after that and he accompanied her home she had never tried something like that. So what does it mean? Does she like him? As in, _like-like _him? He shook his head. No way, no how. She may be getting a little more friendlier, but he would have to go back to his brooding tea and get used to it. He doesn't want to deal with this again.

Opening the door to the office, he saw Tsunade standing by the giant bay window, smirking down at the road. When he entered, he knew she knew he was there, but she still didn't take her eyes off of whatever she was watching.

"Baa-Chan?" he asked slowly, trying to calm his still rapid heart beat.  
"You are dismissed."

"What?! The hell are you...what do you mean dismissed?!"

The older woman turned to him, smiling, and let out a playful scowl. "It means you leave my office, or should reading general terms be apart of your training?"

"You called me all the way up here..."

"And I've changed my mind. You've been working hard, and you're a quick learner. One day won't hurt you. Now go." she shooed him off with a wave of her hand, turning towards her desk top. "I have paperwork to attend to."

Grumbling, Naruto swung the door open so suddenly, the guards on either side jumped. "Since when has hell frozen over and Baa-Chan is actually doing her paperwork?"

"I heard that!" A yell from behind the doors sent him running out the tower.

Tsunade smiled to herself. It was about time the blonde idiot and her student got _something _started. She knew it was bound to happen for a while now. Sakura had subconsciously been acting differently around Naruto for a few months now, and she knew that the girl had just realized what her subconscious has known for awhile. It wasn't long before it all fell together. Besides, she had a bet going with Kakashi at the moment. She wasn't about to lose.

Naruto sighed, looking from right to left once he hit the road. Where should he go? It's almost 11:00 am he noticed with a quick look to the sun, and he still had a while before Sakura and Sasuke showed up at his house for the typical miniature 'going-away- party. He new his raven-haired best friend would be training by now, and the blonde figured he needed to as well, with as much Hokage training as he's done here of late. So with a new bounce in his step, he quickly made his way over to Team 7's usual training grounds. He assumed right. The Uchiha was currently fighting a clone, the entire area charred from multiple fire jutsus.

"You know, they just cleaned this!" Naruto hollered, startling the Sasuke clone.

With a scowl, the actual Uchiha used the slight hesitation to his advantage and punched his doppelganger straight through the gut, the poor duplicate poofing away. "Dobe." he greeted.

"Hey, in the mood for some sparring?" Naruto asked, already removing his long-sleeved shirt.

Sasuke smirked in his trademark way. "Feel like getting your ass beat?"

"No, not really. I feel like beating some ass. I have a few kinks to work out." he answered, cracking his neck and fingers to intimate his friend. It never worked, but it was still fun and felt great to do before a fight. Almost like a war cry, except not as audible, and from his bones.  
"Let me guess?" Sasuke dropped down into a beginning stance.  
"Don't even say it." Naruto growled, mimicking the man across from him.

There was an almost unrecognizable pause, before the sentence rolled off his tongue. "More problems with 'Sakura-Chan'?"

And with that they both charged at each other, immediately going into Tai-Justsu to begin. Evenly matched, they both blocked and hit one another with a lazy kind of determination, having done it so many times that they both knew that if they were going to go all out, they'd take each other _and _the village out, which was something they wanted to avoid. So whenever they sparred, they only put enough effort to be a good opponent to one another to keep their skills and reflexes sharp. But Naruto kind of wanted to confide in Sasuke a bit, despite the man's quiet nature. That worked just fine for the blonde and his babbling mouth, because even though the raven haired man spoke at a minimum, he listened genuinely and cared about Naruto's words.  
Sasuke sighed. "What happened?" he asked as he lunged with a kunai, almost brushing the other man's whiskered face, but he ducked and tried to deliver a kick to his feet, in which the Uchiha flipped back onto his hand and then up right.

"I went to get Sakura last night." Naruto admitted, dodging a shuriken with his own kunai, flipping open his pouch and throwing another.

"I figured you would. You aren't very smooth."

"Oh shut up. Anyways, she was kind of drunk, not nearly as she has been in the past, but I saw her...'talking' to another guy."

"Was he ugly?"

"Are you gay?!" Naruto yelled, and Sasuke glared, sending a giant ball of fire in the blonde's direction. He slid underneath the flaming object, feeling a few hairs singe, and used a bit of wind to burst through the access of it, and delivered a punch to the Uchiha's jaw. It landed, and Sasuke rubbed it angrily.

"Damn it." he cursed. "And no, if he's ugly, maybe she was just politely telling him to fuck off?"

"No, she was talking to him, and...I didn't like it. Not one bit." he admitted, and almost made the mistake of looking down as he recalled the anger that coursed through his entire body at the mere thought of it. That was all Sasuke needed to hit him square in the stomach, and Naruto doubled over slightly, but as Sasuke tried to kick him down into the ground, the blonde flipped over and grabbed his foot, flinging him to the nearest tree. "So I took her home."

"How did she take that?" Sasuke chuckled, pushing himself out of the twisted tree and running at Naruto. They resumed lazily hitting at each other.

"She did a whole lot of verbal protesting, but I think that was Tsunade and the alcohol talking." When the Uchiha cringed, the blonde laughed. "I know right? But physically, she went along with me pretty easily."

"Hn." he grunted, and blocked a particularly nasty blow to the side of his head.

"And on the way home, she tried to wrap her arms around me. I panicked and carried her home."

"Why?"

Naruto grabbed Sasuke's foot mid-kick, pulling him closer and sinking a kunai into his chest, and when it turned into a log exactly as he expected, and flung the wood to the side. "I wasn't going to do that to her. I much rather prefer my girls sober, thank you." he scowled.

Sasuke popped up from behind a nearby tree, dashing toward the blonde with a shower of shuriken. Naruto dodged them all easily. "Saying that implies that you've had girls before."

"Wow, is everything a joke to you?"

"Pretty much." he shrugged, and Naruto tried for a blow at his side at the same time as Sasuke, but their fists collided instead, and Naruto drew his back and shook it fiercely, the throbbing already starting.

"Ouucchhhh." he groaned, but continued the sparring session immediately anyways. "But, truth is, I really wanted to let her. She looked so good last night." Remembering it brought a fond grin on his face. "I don't want her regretting anything though. Because despite wishful thinking, pretty sure she's still on the whole, 'not a special friend' thing."

Sasuke rolled his eyes as he dodged an attack. Of course he had two idiots for teammates. "Yeah, she's totally on that still."

Not noticing the sarcasm, Naruto got discouraged slightly, because though he'd never admit it to anybody, he regarded his friend's advice highly. He trusted him completely. He needed him to tell him otherwise, but he didn't. Naruto shook his blonde spikes. He'd get Sakura to like him, or die trying. Now that he thinks about it, he's come close to it before in her fits of rage in the past. With a simultaneous punch, they both caught the others fist, both shaking slightly, before they nodded and dropped their arms at their sides. Looking down, Naruto frowned at how sweaty he had let himself get.

"Want some ramen?" he asked, pulling his shirt back over his head and onto his body.

"Not really, but you're going to beg me until I go anyways, so I might as well save myself the headache." he sighed, pulling on his shirt as well.

"Oh, and Teme, Sakura-Chan is leaving for a mission tomorrow night, so the hang out is tonight at my house. Six o clock. Ok?"

"Yeah yeah, whatever Dobe." he answered, already shoving his hands in his pockets and walking to the market.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXX

"And then he whispers '_I love your touches_'" Sakura concluded, sighing as she picked at a flower on the counter.

Ino slanted her mouth distastefully. "If you pick all the petals off that flower, you're paying for it."

The pink haired woman rolled her eyes and stared at her friend seriously. "What do I make of this?" she cried in frustration, throwing her head against the counter dramatically. When it hit with an audible crack, she whimpered.

"That not go as you planned?" Ino watched, raising a blonde brow. She was just going to let the action discipline her itself.

"NO! I misjudged the space between my forehead and the surface." she whined miserably, but didn't move her aching head off the table top.

"Ok, were you wanting an answer to the whole scene? Because it hasn't changed. He's totally into you. But I think you're both idiots. Never changed, and it never will." she sighed, turning her attention back to the bridal bouquet in front of her. She rearranged a flower for the umpteenth time, before crying out in frustration and throwing it behind her angrily. "Nobody saw that, so that flower is no longer anybody's problem." she grumbled to herself, and snipped off a piece of bow. "Now then, I gave you my verdict, go act out on it.

Sakrua scoffed. "You're not a judge."

"But you keep insisting on acting like I am. Thought I'd play the part."

"Smart-ass."

"This is why we're friends." she added, shoving the bouquet into the fridge behind her. "A lovely bride is coming in tonight to get this bouquet. She's tying the knot tomorrow."

"Oh?" Sakura lifted her head off the counter enough to rest it on her chin. "Do I know who it is?"

"No. Some civilian. Very ordinary. But so sweet. I hope I can stay that sweet with Chouji." she sighed dreamily, leaning on her elbow, resting her chin in her palm. "I wish you could have seen them together. I was so jealous, and green isn't really my color, so you know it was that mushy, 'giving me diabetes' sweet."

"Yeah..." Sakura answered distantly, thinking of a blonde haired man that was probably filing paperwork, or slurping bowls of ramen right at that moment. "Hey, Ino?"

"Hm?" she answered, obviously just brought back from a day dream.

"I'm leaving for a mission tomorrow." The look Ino gave her sent her gritting her teeth. "And _no_, I'm not running away from my problems. Kami, what is with you people?!"

"Oh, we just know you, Sakura, deary."

"Whatever. It's a very simple assassination task. Should be back very soon. Just thought you should know."

"Who's the sucker that's going to be hosting you guys tonight for that weird hanging out bit you guys do?" the blonde girl asked knowingly.

Sakura took in a deep breathe. "Naruto."

Blonde eyebrows shot to their hairline. "Whew. Well, good luck with that one, Sakura. Let's hope Sasuke doesn't leave before you." she cackled, but cried out in pain as Sakura leaned over and punched her arm.

"Nothing is going to happen!" she stated, crossing her arms over her chest, but despite her words, she felt a little rush of hope and excitement. Maybe..?

"Yeah, sure, that's what they all say. And then BAM, somebody's pregnant, momma's crying, daddy's fuming, and baby daddy's running."

Sakura eyed her dirtily. "You watch too much Lifetime Network."

"That is very much true, and you bet your ass Chouji sits through every movie with me."

"Do you love torturing people?"

Ino winked. "Only the ones I love." she shrugged. "Besides, he sleeps through most of them. I have to turn the speakers so high I'm afraid that I'll bust the damn things."

"Hey, your boyfriend." Sakura threw her arms up defensively.

"I know." the blonde girl said warmly, leaning forward and rubbing the smooth petals of the flower Sakura had just previously picked at.

Suddenly, Sakura found herself very envious of Ino. She had such an amazing relationship with Chouji, it was truly great. They were sweet together, and complimented one another perfectly. The rosette could only hope that one day she'd have just as good a coupling as her best friend. So relaxed, yet exciting; warm, yet burning hot. Things that could be slow and sweet and beautiful, but also fast and rough and scorching. Just how she liked things.

"Ino. I have to get going. I have to pack my crap and read over this mission file, and then head over to Naruto's. I'll see you in a few days, alright?"

"You be careful, Forehead!" she cheered, stepping around the counter and engulfing said girl in a bear hug. "And while you're away, think of ways to tell that idiot how you feel."

"Yeah, I know. And I'll be careful, Pig." she smiled, giving her once last squeeze before leaving with a single wave.

At her home, Sakura laid out a clean Shinobi outfit and gloves, setting out her medical bag and restocking it from her last mission, organizing her weapons and pulling down her katana from the top of her closet. She filled her pouches with solider and plasma pills, scrolls, kunai, shuriken, and an extra bandage wrap; quick access in the case of immediate severe bleeding. She filled her pack with a clean sleeping roll, two canteens of water, and a good amount of dried fruits, nuts, and protein bars. She could catch something and roast it in the forest if she felt like having meat.

Feeling all packed, the pink haired woman headed to the bathroom and took a quick shower, dressing in her 'civilian' clothing and combing out her hair. She left it down to dry, and walked to her kitchen table. Sitting down, she made a quick mug of hot tea and set out to dig into the mission's folder. About an hour later, she had went through three cups of tea and finished the details. It seemed easy enough, she shrugged. Nothing she couldn't handle on her own. If it was anymore than that, Tsunade wouldn't have put it in the solos filing drawer.

Placing the empty mug into the sink, the rosette washed what little dishes she had, noticing she still had plenty of time. It was only 3:32 pm, and she wasn't due at Naruto's until six, so with another shrug, she figured she might as well do her laundry too, so nothing sits around the house and stinks it up while she's gone. While doing laundry, she also flitted around her home, straightening up and setting out new air fresheners and taking out the garbage. She was indeed a procrastinator, but she couldn't be before a mission. Things tend to just _sit and stink _when she's gone, so she always gets everything out of the way before hand. She's learned that the hard way.

Noticing the time, Sakura quickly shut her door and locked it, heading to her blonde teammates home. She was there quickly, deciding to take the rooftops because of how late she was. She cursed, knowing she should have waited for that last load, but she just wanted to get it out of the way. With a carefully raised knuckle, Sakura knocked on the door curtly before hurriedly smoothing down her hair and shirt. She cleared her throat, and her heart was already picking up speed, thinking about the incident not even seven hours ago. But as the door swung open to reveal the cheery blonde, her heart could have exploded happily. He gave her his trademark grin, his whiskers stretching cutely to try to make room for that beam that was aimed her way.

"Sakura-Chan!" he cheered, stepping aside. "Welcome!"

She didn't know what to expect stepping into his apartment, probably the usual nastiness she was used to, but what she stepped into was an actual clean, comfortable little apartment. His bed was made, the floor was mopped till it shone, and the trashcan was actually empty. And from the looks of it, Sakura guessed that his bathroom and kitchen were as clean as well.

The rosette turned to her teammate slowly, grabbing a fistful of his sleeve. "Who did you hire to clean your room?" she breathed seriously.

He merely laughed at her. "Nobody cleaned it for me. I cleaned it myself."

"Who _are _you?" she joked, taking off her shoes and setting them in the shoe rack. She did a double take. He actually knew those _existed_?!

"I kind of got tired of living in the filth." he answered, a little pink dusting across his cheeks. "And I knew how you didn't like the mess, so..."

Sakura couldn't stop the big grin that spread across her face. "Well, what's up for tonight?"

Naruto led her into his living room/bedroom, and shrugged. "Waiting for Teme, I suppose. He's supposed to be here any minute now. Lazy bastard..." he muttered the last part, but Sakura picked up on it and laughed brightly.  
"You guys crack me up." she shook her head.

"What do you mean?" he asked playfully, sitting down in front of the table.

"You guys always act like you hate each other, when it's the exact opposite. You'd both die for each other in a heart beat." she said and sat down next to him, so close her elbow brushed his.

"Hey! We're forever rivals. Gotta keep up our reputation!" he answered lightly. "Besides, you and Ino are really mean to each other, right?"

"Forever rivals." she breathed in agreement. "I have mine too. That's why we're best friends."

"Yeah. Seems like insulting builds bonds." he chuckled.

There was a tiny silence, before Sakura decided to finally avoid the dancing around the topic and ask. "Hey, Naruto..."

"Yeah, Sakura-Chan?" he asked obliviously. He watched her with those oceanic eyes that drove her crazy, and she almost forgot what she was going to say.

"I was just wondering, if after I get back from my mission-"

A sharp knock rung throughout the apartment, and Naruto stood up and walked to the door, opening it, and Sakura heard two male voices talking lowly. She knew it was Sasuke, and she groaned, throwing herself back onto the carpet. Oh, of freaking _course _Kami would let everything stop her from getting Naruto to understand her feelings for him. It seems like every time they almost have a 'moment', something has to come ruin it. Maybe she needs to kidnap him and run away to a cave long enough to get a decent reaction from him without the outer world interfering? The thought made her giggle hysterically.

"Uh, Sakura-Chan? You laying on the ground like that, laughing like a mad woman makes me...concerned. And I'm pretty sure you're freaking Teme out too."

Looking up, she saw a cringing Naruto and a wide eyed Sasuke. That just made her laugh even harder. "Sorry, just remembered something Ino said earlier. Anyways! I'm starving. I didn't eat dinner." she pouted playfully, staring at them. "I need food."

"I think we all did. That's the point, right?" Naruto turned to Sasuke. "Sakura and I will start the stir fry, since you can't cook for shit besides tomatoes and onigiri." The raven haired man glared. "Yeah, we know Sasuke! So you're in charge of getting the movies, ok? We want something scary. Or funny. I honestly don't care. Just don't be a buzz kill about it. Here's a few." he stated, handing him a few bills. "Now go!"

With a grunt of protest, Sasuke walked out and Sakura nearly cheered with relief. The movie store may not be too far for a Shinobi by rooftop, but she knew how long Sasuke took with movies. He was so picky when it came to motion films. Naruto walked up to her, holding out a hand, and she grasped it tightly as he swiftly pulled her up in one yank. He held onto her hand as they stood, staring.

"You ready for this?" he asked jokingly, letting his hand slid to his side.

"Just don't burn your hand again." she said, turning to the kitchen.

"ONE TIME!" he hollered, following her.

As he cut vegetables, Sakura was in charge of preparing the meat. As it sizzled, she doctored it with seasoning. "So, what movie do you think Sasuke will pick?" she attempted lamely.

"I don't know." he sighed. "Probably an action film, or a really scary, gory horror film. He's such a freak." Naruto shook his spiked head slowly.

"Either doesn't sound bad, really." she answered over her shoulder, turning back to the meat. Frowning, she reached up in his spice cabinet, standing on her tip toes and wiggled her fingers around, barely bumping against the spice bottle she needs. Making strangled little 'unhff!'s, she was just about to cry out in frustration when she heard a loud laugh behind her, and her face flushed. "S-Shut up!"

Immediately, she felt a heated chest press against her back, and he leaned forward. "What do you need?" he asked, looking up to inspect his cabinets.

Sakura tried stirring the meat to distract her, and to get her mind off of the butterflies in her stomach. "Crushed red pepper." she answered, and it came out a little more raspy than what she intended.

Naruto noticed, and an excited feeling bubbled in his chest. "Oh. I see your problem." he said, and unnecessarily took his sweet time to reach up and grab it, slowly bringing it down. "Your very vertically challenged, compared to me anyways."

Sakura couldn't even come up with an insult. His chest flexed with every moment he made, and she felt all of it on her now hot back. She forced down a whimper, and felt a warm rush of fiery feeling dive straight to her lower region. This was _not _good. She instantly took back that whole cave woman escapade she imagined. She would probably not last very long in a cave with him without jumping his bones at this point. She swallowed hard, and turned her head slightly to the side. His scent was completely male, earthly, and warm. Welcoming.

Sakura reached over, making sure her fingers overlapped and brushed his as she slid the bottle out of his hand. "Thanks." she answered, looking up into his smoldering blue eyes. He didn't move, and Sakura took that as a great sign. She was beginning to believe Ino more and more. "Naruto." she gently called, a heated tint to her voice.

"Hm?" he rumbled, and she felt that on her back too.

Her breath temporarily hitched in her throat. She swallowed that down. "I understand you just _love _pressing your body against mine and all, but Sasuke is coming up those stairs, and if you remain like that, he'll walk in to see this position, and then question the cleanliness of this meal." she breathed, and he gave a light chuckle.

"I suppose you're right." he answered, stepping back, but not before brushing the back of his hand lightly down her arm and turning back to the vegetables, chopping away as the Uchiha opened the door.

"Ok!" he called, rummaging through his plastic sack. "I got a few movies. One is an action film about some war out by Kumi, another is a scary movie about a murderer or something, and another is about Zombie-Vampire hybrids."

Immediately, Sakura and Naruto laughed hysterically.  
"What?" Sasuke growled. "I thought you guys liked making fun of bad scary movies!"

"We do! We do!" Sakura encouraged. "But I have to see your face when we watch that thing."

"I completely agree." Naruto nodded, wiping an imaginary tear from his eye. "This is going to be priceless."

After a peaceful dinner of sweet and spicy stir fry, they happily sat back on Naruto's tiny twin bed, pressed up against each other as they popped in the movies. As promised, the entire Zombie-Vampire movie Sasuke wore an expression of pure disgust, and Sakura laughed so hard she actually cried.

"You looked like you just ate an entire bag of lemons that smelt like three day old shit!" Naruto laughed along with Sakura, and after the credits rolled, Sasuke chuckled a bit too.

The action movie was decent, thought the blood was so fake that it was hard to get into. Sakura mused darkly that they'd all know real blood, even in their sleep, especially with the profession they decided to get themselves into. The scary movie was much more believable, but at the end of it, Sakura felt herself drifting again. This time she made sure she was leaning securely against the wall, and when she woke up, she felt wind on her face, and a feeling of floating away. Opening her eyes, she saw a whiskered face.

"You fell asleep." he answered plainly, as if it happened all the time. And quite frankly, it seemed like that's all she's been doing here lately. "I wanted to get you into bed without waking you, but it seems I've failed." he said, but despite himself, he had a gentle smile adorning his features.  
Sakura made no move to move out of his arms, and snuggled closer against the cold wind. "What time is it?" she asked, feeling his heart beat drum madly against her cheek from the action. She smiled to herself. Good.

"Around 12:30 am. I figured I better get you home so you can get up on time tomorrow." he said, and looked down guiltily. "I'm sorry I kept you out so late."

"No." she called up softly. "I love these little hangouts we do before we leave. Things could go really wrong, really fast. We never know when we may never-"  
"Stop. Just stop right there." he nearly whispered, and Sakura's eyes widened. She felt him clutch her tightly to his chest. "I don't want to think about that. At all."

The rosette nodded slowly, understanding what he meant. She shouldn't have even mentioned it, even if it was the truth. It was still a hard thing to come to terms with, and just like Naruto, a lot of Shinobi try to deal with it by not even acknowledging it. She could understand. Nobody wants to think of a loved one never coming through those gates again. She's had that miniature heart attack before. Lifting her head, she noticed how beautiful the moon shone. It was nearly full, and she noticed that the night was incredibly, thanks to it's shine. She could see practically everything. With that thought, she lifted her eyes to the face above her. He had on a serious expression, and she lowered her head back down in a twang of guilt.

Soon they were at her apartment, and he lowered her to the ground slowly, as if not to break her, and she shook her head slowly at his actions. She was in the top twenty in the international bingo book, yet he still treated her like a fragile porcelain doll. She didn't know how exactly that made her feel.

"Thank you." Sakura smiled up at him. "I keep giving you so much trouble."

"No trouble at all, Sakura-Chan." he grinned. "I'm here for you!"

A warmth flooded her, as it always does at those words. Reaching forward, she brushed his bangs out of his eyes. His eyes were watchful, but the action caught him off guard, and as a result a bit of red swirled on his face. He reached up and captured her hand, dragging it to his chest and cradling it against his heart. She felt the organ thrumming just as madly as her own. Lost for words, her eyes flitted across his face, searching for the things she meant to say.

"I...I can't promise I'll always come back to you." she started.

"Don't-"

"No! Seriously." she stated. "I can't promise that I'll always come back to you." she repeated, a little more sure. "Because I can't promise things that aren't certain. But I do promise you that I will fight with every ounce of my soul to get back to you. No matter what." she ended firmly. "Tomorrow's mission isn't that difficult. But this is for all time." Leaning forward, she pulled him into an embrace, clutching him to her. "You know what?"

"Hm?" he wordlessly asked, sighing in content. He wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her tightly against him.  
She giggled a bit at the irony, giddy and nervous, but sure at the same time. "This is _my _promise of a lifetime." Despite himself, Naruto chuckled against her and lightly buried his nose into her hair, regarding a sweet, fresh scent of wildflowers, but before he got his fill of her scent, she pulled away. "You seeing me off tomorrow?" she asked, and noticed the way his eyes fell when she left his embrace. At her question though, he perked up again.

"Of course, Sakura-Chan. Don't we always?"

"Yeah, we do." she smiled warmly, and turned to unlock her door. She opened it, but before she went inside, she took in a deep breath. Turning around, she found that Naruto was still leaning against the railing, watching her. Walking up slowly, she leaned forward and brushed her lips against his whiskers. "Thank you, Naruto. For everything. And just being there." she leaned away, stepping back. She could have laughed at the stupefied expression on his face. "Goodnight."

With that she turned back into her home, shutting the door quietly and leaning against it. She tried Ino's advice and went completely with the signals he was sending, and she was hoping that she had read them right, otherwise, he needed to work on that, because tonight the signals were as painfully obvious as a brick to the face. She had only hoped that he took her hints as well. Dating was too complicated, especially the flirting stage, she concluded as she flopped onto her bed. No wonder some women swear it off completely.

But that rush she felt when she pecked his cheek, despite how light it was, or whenever he hugged her, or held her, or carried her, it was addicting. And she found herself not wanting to wait until tomorrow to see him again, and facing her mission tomorrow with a love-hate outlook. She was excited to get back out there and get some actual Shinobi work done, but she also didn't want to be away for _too _long. She rolled over, and with a grin, touched her lips.

It was no debate, who was on her mind right before she fell asleep that night, or who was on it when she awoke first thing the next morning.

And surprisingly, she felt that she could get used to this.

**A/N: Wha-What? Is that some NARUSAKU I SEE IN THERE, I think it is! :D **

**Hey guys, pretty long chapter, eh? I worked on it hella long. HELLA. LONG. I hope you enjoyed it! Wow, I am really cranking these things out... I'm so tired right now, I think I found some new sort of drunk. I call it Drunk Tired. I need to get to bed you guys. **

**Read, Review (please?), Enjoy! **

**Read on, **

**~Dayonight7**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: There is a lot of fighting, which is a first for me and I wanted to try it out, and all in all just Sakura being a complete badass, like how I hope she turns out after the war. Who knows. :D**

With a quiet step, Sakura waked along the road, seemingly unaware and content. She really could pull off the naïve, happy-go-lucky traveler when she needed to. On the surface, she may be ignorant, but really she took each step with the up-most caution, scanning the forest from a five mile radius. Things were very boring to say the least, and she was almost ready to go back to Konoha and give her master a piece of her frustrated mind. She was already into this missions for _a freaking week_, and the most action she has gotten out of it was when she hunted for rabbit two nights ago. She didn't let it show on the outside, but internally she was groaning and throwing a tantrum. She could actually be doing something in the village right about now, but instead she was out here, prancing around, looking for seemingly non-existent bandits.

She had tried the stealthy approach, creeping along trees (which horrifying reminded her of her _last _tree incident), silently searching for the crooks, but when that didn't work for an entire five days, she decided to switch to the fake-out technique. If this doesn't produce fruit any time soon, she's going to have to go to a nearby town and question people as well and stock up on all the supplies she's used so far. So with a sigh, she readjusted her strap and continued moving forward.

Staring around the trees, the rosette looked up to the sky, smiling at the bright sun and clear blue oasis. Not a cloud in sight. To her relief, the weather had been amazing all throughout her assignment, so she hadn't had to find any shelter or take refuge. With a mental shrug, she supposed it was nice to get out of the village walls for a change, and this is severely helping her cabin fever. Maybe a little too well, she thought with a frown. She was missing home already. Badly. But whenever she thought of home, it was no longer her warm bed, office at the hospital, or her banters with Ino. It was now of silky blonde spikes, vibrant oceanic blue eyes, and a whiskered smile.

Sakura's expression simmered to a fond, adoring one, as it always does when she thought of the hyperactive knucklehead. She really couldn't wait to get home, and to just see him again. Scratch that, she's a little more selfish, she thought with a smirk. She wanted to throw herself in his arms when she gets back, just like in those cheesy movies Ino makes her watch. Yeah, she would love that, she concluded, stepping over a small puddle.

With a flick of her wrist, she snapped open her kunai pouch and launch it at the accumulation of water. She almost laughed out loud at the sheer stupidity of these ninjas. Granted, she'd give them the impressive manner in which they hid their chakra signatures from her, but remembering an old trick Kakashi used in her Genin days, she knew that it hadn't rained enough for there to still be puddles. And when the bandit emerged with a predatory growl, digging the kunai out of his shoulder, Sakura crouched into a offensive stance, nearly shaking with excitement. She's been ready for this a long time. Several other men melted from the forest, and Sakura smirked as she reached behind her for her short katana.

Show time.

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Tsunade looked out onto the village from the huge window in her office, a small, fond smile gracing her lips. She watched as the civilians bustled about, trying to get things ready for the day. She saw her Shinobi, clad proudly in their head bands, roaming the streets and training grounds, where she also saw her beginning Genin training hard. These people will soon no longer be hers, but Naruto's, and she entrusted them to him completely. He'll make a great Hokage; she and everybody else in this village thinks so, and surprisingly, the council as well.

Sighing, she plopped down into her seat, shuffling through the mission reports and blandly reading through them. When she crossed the 'still-open' pile, she frowned deeply, staring at the assignment she had recently given her student. It shouldn't have taken as long as it has, and she hasn't heard a single word from her the entire time she's been deployed. Had things gone wrong? Should she send out a search party?

No. She shook her head, pushing past the folder and onto the next one. Sakura was a strong, capable girl, and she would give her two weeks max before sending out a search party. Things must just be progressing slower than what everyone had previously thought. It was just a group of bandits, something Sakrua could take care of easily. If she had thought otherwise, she would have sent somebody else on the job. But despite her words, she found herself pouring another glass of sake.

As soon as the fiery liquid slid down her throat, her door opened with a raucous bang, and she choked mid-swallow.  
"BAA-CHAN!" the blonde hollered, not bothering to close the door behind him. "You told me to not even mention it until a week has passed or you'll shove your high heel so far up-"

"Ok! I get it, Naruto." she coughed, beating on her chest. "The week is up, and there hasn't been a word about her." she said, looking down guiltily at his fallen expression. "But there hasn't been any signs to signal a distress, and many Shinobi choose not to send reports in case of it getting into the wrong hands. You know that."

"Yeah, I know." he sighed in defeat, falling into the chair in front of her. "But it still sucks."

"It does, but this is what we face in this profession. It'll be alright, Sakura is a tough girl. Before you know it she'll be back to beat on you some more."

Naruto chuckled, shaking his head. "She hasn't seriously beat me up in _years_."

"Yeah, I haven't seen you walking into the hospital with knuckle prints in your forehead for quite some time."

"I thank my lucky stars every night." he admitted humorously, and glanced out the window, where he had noticed the older woman's stare went to. With a knowing look, he said gently, "I'll take good care of them. I promise."

"I know you will." she nodded, but didn't tear her gaze off of the scenery. "It's just strange. I didn't even _want _the job to begin with. And now here I sit, constantly worrying about all of them as if they're my own children." she ended on a soft note. Turning back to him seriously, she furrowed her brows. "But the retirement is going to be amazing. Gambling, drinking, and late night escapades." she laughed, rubbing her hands together.

Naruto stared at her in mock horror. What the hell is wrong with this woman? "If you say so." he said, turning back to the window.

A pink haired, jade eyed beauty popped into his concerned mind almost immediately. It seemed as if that was the only thing that was ever on his mind anymore. The night before she left had been amazing, but left a bittersweet feeling when he embraced her the next morning before she left. He held on a little longer than usual, breathed in a little deeper when her hair brushed his face, and watched the gates for a long while after she left. His feelings were only intensifying, and he could only hope that he was right when guessing that she had been shifting from a content, mutual friendship to something more. The way she was acting was proof enough. One day, when he felt the time was right, he was going to bring up the topic she normally pushed away, and hope that he'll see a different reaction from her. One that would swing in the direction he hoped and dreamed about constantly.

"Well, Naruto, what should we look at today for your training?" she interrupted his train of thoughts. "We've already covered protocol, emergency situations, politics, business, missions. Oh! I know! How about budget accounting?" she grinned wickedly.

"Wh-What? Don't we have somebody for that?" he squeaked.

"Yes." she nodded, already pulling out a scroll. "But you have to go over their tracts to make sure the village isn't getting screwed. It's happened before." Naruto groaned loudly, slumping in his chair. He didn't want to deal with numbers. He was terrible at them! This was not what he expected to signed up for. Counting coins and managing money was _not _his thing. Tsunade gave him an innocent look. "Welcome to hell, young one."

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Panting, Sakura chucked a shower of shuriken at her assaulter. He side stepped and dodged them with a smirk, but was too caught up in his own triumph to notice the creeping shadow clone behind him, until it had sunk a kunai into the jugular in his neck. He fell to the ground with a shocked, distant expression as he gripped his neck desperately before stilling permanently. That makes six, she thought with a frown. Her folder had only mentioned eight crooks, but as she looked around her, she noticed at least seven more. What the hell was up with this?

One charged at her with a katana, as another rounded behind her with a nasty barbed whip. Last minute, Sakura yanked another trick from her old Sensei and dove under ground. From beneath the dirt she heard the unmistakable ripping of flesh, and a strangled cry, before a thump over head indicated her elementary trick had worked. How stupid could these crooks get? She cackled as she heard panicked yelling, and she finally resurfaced. A tiny group of them had clumped in front of the two that just attacked one another, one was completely torn to shreds and the other shaking violently, bleeding out as somebody tried to remove the katana from his chest.

With a sudden realization, she slanted her mouth slightly, feeling a little bad. There was more head counts in this fight than what Konoha had intended, because the bandits were training others to join them. Those poor bastards up there hardly knew what the hell they were doing. No wonder this was easier than what she had planned. But, orders are orders, and they had been robbing and even killing innocent people, and these trainees were only buds, waiting to join the obscenities. Resisting her natural urge to run over there and heal him, she darted toward the tiny crowd. With a roar and chakra filled fist, she slammed her gloved hand into the dirt, and all around her the forest floor scattered into giant chunks of earth.

It was almost comical, the way they literally screamed and clung to flying debris as they were flung around like rag dolls. It felt so good to the rosette, finally able to use her famous monstrous strength, and she almost cringed at how much she put into. Yeah, she definitely over did it. Springing off of a rather large piece of tree trunk, she slammed into one of the crooks, sinking a kunai into his chest before yanking it out with an audible _shlick. _With a smooth flip, she landed on another chunk of soil that was still floating in mid-air, running along it and jumped, cocking her fist back, she slammed it into the face of the first man she saw, feeling the bones crunch under her hand.

The rest of them were down in what seems like a blink of an eye, and as the last piece of earth fell, so did the last man, and Sakura landed on her feet rather roughly. Cracking her neck, she stretched her body, wiggling around her limbs to check for injury. Feeling around, she found a single splinter in her thigh, which was of her own doing. She quietly pulled it out, ignoring the tiny droplet of blood. Nothing serious that needed immediate attention. Frowning as she surveyed the area, she knew this mission wasn't completed. These men who pathetically weak, meaning the real bandit group was still somewhere close, and she needed to take care of them.

Hearing a groaning nearby, she smirked wickedly, turning on her boot's heel, walking menacingly to the tree across from her. As expected, a single survivor was rolling around on the ground, clutching at a rather large branch through his abdominal. When seeing the pink haired Kunoichi, his eye widened and filled with tears.

"P-Please!" he begged, trying to squirm away. "Spare me!"

At this point, Sakura's emotional training kicked in, and she felt the familiar rush of numbness fill her veins, traveling throughout her body until she no longer saw the man in front of her as a human being. This was the only way to keep her from going insane and bringing her profession into her personal life. She switched to Shinobi mode completely. This was no longer the Sakura who sat at Ichiraku's, laughing with her teammates, or who's heart pounded at the thought of Naruto Uzumaki, or gave a sick child a teddy bear from the gift shop downstairs just for the smile on their face. No, this Sakura Haruno was a cold, hardhearted monster.

Giving him a piercing stare, she leaned forward. "Where is the rest of your little gang?" she asked coldly, gauging his reaction.

"I don't know w-what you're talking about." he gritted his teeth. "This was all of us."

"Bullshit." she growled, placing a foot on the wooden chunk in his middle. He cried out. "Where?"

"In the hideout." he sobbed, pulling on her boot desperately.  
"Where's the hideout?"

"I don't know. I'm j-just a trainee." he admitted. Almost hissing, she applied pressure with her foot. "In the forest!" he screamed. "About a mile East from here. In the hill there's a c-cave, right by a big oak! Please, Kami, _please_."

Despite her facade, Sakura felt the shake coming on. The one where she knew her act was slipping and she was returning to the kind rosette that everybody in Konoha knew her by. She bit her bottom lip, shaking her head. "Thanks."

Quick as lightening, she reached over and snapped his neck. It was a quicker, more merciful death to say at least. Her medical sense told her that there was no saving him. The branch had severed almost all the internal organs in his abdominal, and if she were to leave him to live, he would have died a slow, painful death. And if anybody could have gotten to him before then, they would have had to give him the same fate; she just saved him hours of torment.

With that thought, she trudged forward, heading East to find the place she figured the more elite crooks would be hiding. It didn't take her long, and when she reached it, she almost rolled her eyes. They had a fire going, laughing in a cacophony of idiocy, sharpening their knives. She would be stupid to walk in there blindly, so she crouched behind the leaves of the tree she was stationed in, and listened closely, which really wasn't that close. They were speaking loudly as it is.

"And the idiots thought they were going out to actually kill her!" one laughed, running a wet stone down his katana. "They couldn't even kill a hog, if I asked them."

"Oh, they died for a good cause. They may have been our worst batch, but they should buy us some time." he called out. "I suspect they should keep her busy enough until we get ready to strike. She can't handle all of us at once. That's just too much."

Sakura growled, tightening her fist as she perched in the great oak. Did they doubt her skills that much?! That batch of morons didn't even last twenty minutes! And what did they mean worst batch? Were there more? She needed to stomp out this flicker before it grew to be an all out forest fire.

"I know! Great thing we kept our activity down to a few, otherwise Konoha would have sent a squad and we would have been _fucked_."

Sakura cursed. She may need to send a letter of warning to the village after all. For supposed bandits, these guys weren't as mentally challenged as she had previously thought.

"True that!" he cheered, and they clanked their glasses together. "Man, boss is such a genius!"

Suddenly, the camp quieted, and Sakura furrowed her brows together. This wasn't good. Double checking, she knew her chakra signature was completely hidden. She had gifted control of it, and her presence was virtually undetectable when she wanted it to be. She had made sure to rid of her scent, even went as far as to rub dirt on her body to mask the sweat from her previous battle. The leaves completely shielded her, so she knew it wasn't her. Shifting her position, she peered into the cave deeper, and saw the source of the silence. That must be the 'boss', she thought with a glare.

"Men, quiet down!" he called, and she had to admit, he held an aura of authority around him. "I just heard back from our look out, and Konoha indeed sent one Kunoichi. She managed to finish off the first group already." Sakura smirked at the surprised and worried whispers all around the camp.

'That's right bitches, I'm not Tsunade's apprentice for nothing.' she cackled inwardly.

"So I'm going to deploy the next group. I don't know if she has figured out our hide out, but we're going to move to take precaution, so pack up, and do it quickly." he said finally, turning around and heading deeper into the cave.

'Not on my watch, jackass.'

Dropping silently from the tree, she rushed over to the man she found closest to her. As he packed away some of their supplies, Sakura crept up close, and as he turned around, she grabbed him by the neck, muffling his mouth as she slid her short katana from it's pouch behind her and slit his throat. A few seconds of gurgling passed before he went limp, and she dragged his corpse over to the forest. Memorizing every detail of his character (she thanked Kami for her perfect memorization every time she did this), she made the hand signs quickly, and henged into the man before her. With a deep breath, she entered the snakes lair.

Nodding to a few men, she walked in the exact manner she remembered. She had chosen her henging target wisely, having watched him the closest as she listened into the conversations. Granted it was only a total of about ten minutes, but that was all she needed to get by. Staring around, she measured the capabilities of her opponents to the best of her ability. Seeing what she really needed, she walked over to a group of men.

"Hey." she greeted, her voice no longer hers. "Rino, I got this." Thanking Kami for the umpteenth time that day that she actually saw somebody who she had over heard his name. He nodded, smiling.

"Thanks man, you know how heavy these freaking crates of kunai get." he said, patting Sakura on the back.

She quickly grabbed a few crates of weapons, snickering at these idiots. Are they serious? They were about as dumb as the first batch of morons. She landed a few of the boxes outside the cave, and noticed everybody was crammed inside, arguing about who was going to carry what. Seeing her golden opportunity, Sakura raised her leg in the air, and the realization hit all of their faces in a tsunami of panic.

She brought her foot down with as much strength as she could manage inside the cave. "SHANNARO!"

Just like the earlier scene in the forest, the entire inside of the cave crashed into a massive quake of ruin, the bandits running around in the debris and dust, trying to find her. She saw one approaching her, and granted he almost nicked her cheek with a shuriken he must have had on him, but she side stepped him in the haze, and grinned evilly.

"Right here!" she yelled, gathering chakra in her fist and connecting with his back. She felt the spine snap in half, and he fell to the ground, shaking.

Dodging and weaving through several men, she felt one of them slam his fist into her side, and she chocked a bit on air before using the extra boost of motion to her advantage, and sunk her katana into the man in front of her, swinging around to meet the face of another man, and she bashed in his face with the heel of her boot.

In a heartbeat, she heard somebody cry. "Billowing Winds." A male voice rung out, and immediately he ruined her entire foliage idea, clearing out the dust.

A quick glance to the cave entrance gave her the impression that there was no easy, quick way to access the outside, which was exactly what she needed. So, these assholes can use jutsu now? At least they were upgrading slowly, the more she fought them. They were no longer just dummies for her to practice shuriken throwing. She was weeding out the weaker from the pack, and now she was hitting the betas. Still, she knew somewhere deep in the cave, the alpha was waiting. He was going to give her the most trouble, and she had to reserve enough energy to deal with him, so she couldn't waste too much time with the buffoons right now.

Crouching low, she turned to them all. "Come on." she growled, and they stared at her as if she had just said the funniest joke they had ever heard.

"Stupid bitch." one hissed, forming hand signs. "You're out numbered, 12 to 1."

"Oh?" she stood straighter, forming hand signs of her own. Immediately, she reproduced a dozen clones. "How about now?"

What ensued next was utter chaos.

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"Do you think Sakura-Chan is ok?" he asked his raven-haired best friend, who grunted.  
"Yes, of course she is, Dobe." he shook his head. "Don't doubt her so much."

Naruto gasped, a hand flying to his chest. "I do not doubt her! Sakura-Chan and Baa-Can are the strongest females I know! It's just...I worry. You know? It's taking was longer than what anybody had thought."

"Yeah." Sasuke said, and that was all he spoke, staring up at the sky.

Naruto sighed, pushing back the flaps of Ichiraku ramen, plopping down on a stool. "I just want her home."

"How do you think she feels when you're away?" the Uchiha asked, taking his usual seat next to the blonde. Teuchi didn't ask what they fancied that day, having already set to work. He knew all of Team Seven's orders by heart. "I think you're just more worked up than usual because of what's been going on between you two."

The blonde choked on air, staring at his rival. "What?!"

Sasuke rolled his onyx eyes. "Everybody can see it. You two have a thing going on."

Teuchi looked up from his stove. "Oh? Is Sakura finally your girlfriend?" he called from the back. "About time."  
"No!" Naruto cried, looking down for a split instantly, rubbing the back of his neck. "At least, not yet."

"Dobe, it's going to happen." Sasuke stared at him seriously. "And she's going to come home. Quit worrying so much. You sound like a women."

"You bastard." Naruto growled, about to lunge before a bowl of steaming ramen was placed in front of him.

"Both of you stop and eat." Teuchi warned. "I don't need another round of horseplay in my shop. Last time you two went at it, I had half of my building tore down."

"And I'm still paying for that, by the way." the blonde chuckled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.  
"Yeah, yeah." And with that, the older man returned to the back.  
"When are you going out for another mission?" Naruto asked, slurping up a noodle.

Sasuke shook his head. "I need to stay in for a while. At least until they begin building the Department. Once they start I'll do a few to pass the time."

"I'm too busy with training to really go out on an assignment. You know what that old hag did today? Made me do math! I didn't know this was in the job description!" he whined, slumping.

The raven-haired man chuckled, shaking his head. "This village is going to go down the shitter."

"Oi! You take that back, Teme!" The flaps of the little shop opened, and when the two men turned to see who it was, their brows raised in surprise. "Ino? What are you doing here? I thought that you said ramen gave you ass fat?"

"It does." she snorted, but sat down nonetheless. "I just knew I would find you here."

"Why would you want to find me?"

Ino looked down, rubbing her forearm. "I just thought...maybe you heard from Sakura? I know you work in the Hokage Tower, I just figured-"

"No." he answered quickly. "I haven't."

"Oh." she said, chewing on her lip. "It's just, she told me a few days, and its been a week."

"I know." the blonde man stared ahead at nothing. "She'll come home to me. I know she will."

"Come home to _you_?" Ino laughed. "Since when does she live for you?"

Naruto blushed deeply, feeling the flush even burning the tops of his ears. "Shut up, Ino."  
"Did something happen between you two?" she asked nosily, leaning forward on her elbows.

"No." Sasuke finally spoke, scowling. "Nothing that should have been happening by now."

"Ok, wow, really?" Naruto yelled, looking up to the ceiling, clearly embarrassed. "It seems like Sakura and my relationship concerns you people too much. Get a life of your own."

Ino gave him a lecherous smile. "So there _is _a relationship between you two!"

"No!...Yes! Wait, no? I think yes?" He gulped. "This a trick question?"

Sasuke stared at his utter stupidity. Ino laughed a light, airy laugh.

"So you do like her?" her giggling died down, and she stared at him seriously, but she wore a sweet smile. Naruto huffed, but nodded anyways, making sure not to be facing her. "I figured you did." She was clearly satisfied, before jumping slighly. "Shit, well, Chouji is waiting for me at his house. I was only supposed to stay long enough to interrogate you about Sakura."

"You kinda already did." the blonde man grumbled. She laughed again.

Hopping off the stool, she turned to Naruto, gripping his shoulder. "You hear _anything, _you let me know, ok?"

Giving her a curt nod, Ino skipped away, her blonde ponytail swishing slightly. The blue eyed man shook his head at her receding back, before turning back to his ramen, inhaling the rest of it. Throwing down his last few bills, he turned to his best friend.  
"Hey, I'll catch you later. I'm exhausted."

"It's only seven." Sasuke said distastefully.

"Hey! Math stressed my brain, what can I say?" he chuckled hesitantly, and gave him a single wave as he headed toward his apartment.

The walk home was quiet, and he was left to be absorbed in his own thoughts. He wasn't lying when he told Sasuke he was tired, and his brain was stressed, but the math they did today was very elementary and doable for him. His mind was just tired from racing with thoughts of his pink haired medic. He was worried to no end. Maybe the mission folder wasn't complete? Maybe she's hurt somewhere out there, bleeding out? Maybe she ran into a complication?

His head throbbed sharply as he walked up the stairs to his apartment. With a sad smile, he rubbed the worn wood of his door. He's been in this tiny apartment as long as he could remember, it being really the only home he had. In two weeks he would be moving into the newly constructed Hokage Mansion. He would be content to be living here, but the council insisted that it would look terrible for _the _Rokudaime to be staying in such a 'shack'. Naruto supposed the move would be great for future reference, but it still seemed a bit shallow and materialistic. He really wanted Sakura here to be with him when he made the move. Sighing, he shoved his key into the lock and pushed open the door.

'Where _are _you, Sakura-Chan?'

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Shoving a man out of her way, she looked at the bodies that littered the floor. Whoever that 'boss' was, he sure had a hell of recruits. Many ranged in Wind users, some Fire, some Earth, and even a few Water. She was surprised she hadn't crossed any Lightening users yet. That would have been nasty. She felt along her hair, and groaned when she realized her fears had been right. Her incredibly long hair had slipped out of his restraints and the ends of it charred. It wasn't to bad, but when she got back, she knew she had to visit the barber shop to get about four inches off. Hearing a slow clapping, she was snapped from her thoughts. She almost forgot the most important man in the entire cave.

"Congratulations, you little cunt." he spat, walking over the bodies as if they were trash. They probably were, in his mind, she thought with a frown. "You managed to wipe out my entire group. You feeling happy, yet?" he growled, and she merely smirked.

She used up a lot of her energy fighting the previous battle, but she had done it nonetheless, and had a good chunk of chakra left. She needed to use it wisely. "Not yet. Pretty sure that feeling comes after I see your body hit the ground."

"You're wanting to fight?" he laughed. It was a cold and hard sound. "Looks like you won't last longer than thirty seconds."

Looking down quickly, she saw small lacerations across her body, a senbon still sticking out from her upper thigh, which she quickly plucked out. Her clothes had definitely seen better days, and she had a rip in her right boot. She spit to the side, and licked the cut on her lip. "That's all I need" she said, raising her arms mockingly.

Before she had a chance to register, he flew at her, and if it hadn't been for her sharp reflexes, the chunk of cave wall he just disintegrated had been warning enough that her head would have faced the same fate. Springing back onto her hand, she rolled her body away from his swiping kunai. He was quick, she had to give him that. Cocking her fist back, she slammed it forward, aiming for his chest. He lunged to the side, and she clipped his shoulder. By the hissing sound he made, she knew she at least cracked the bone there. When he made hand signs, she stood back, waiting to see what jutsu would pop out.

To her surprise, it wasn't a jutsu at all, but that for a clone, in which he had tried to mask almost successfully with random signs. She barely caught him switching with the clone, who was now the one making the seals. He may be quick, but he'll never be as quick as Naruto, who she was used to fighting. That thought would have sent a proud smile on her face, but now was not the time to be thinking about anything else. She dove to the right, avoiding the real man that had lunged at her with a hand that gripped a flame in the shape of a katana.  
"Fire user?" she asked smugly. "Well, tough shit, because I spar with a fire user constantly, and compared to you? You're child's play." she growled, lunging forward, grabbing the hand that held the flaming sword and crushed the bones inside.

He cried out, and behind her, she almost dodged a swiping hand of his doppelganger, but the man in front of her held her in place last second, and the fist connected with the back of her head. It wasn't as hard as she had expected, but it sent a wave of nausea to her stomach, her vision blurred, and a ringing noise blocked her hearing. The pain of having his hand crushed to dust must have stunned him enough to misjudge the amount of force in his hit, and that in itself probably saved her life. In this career, she's noticed that a lot of the time, it's the little things that make or break you. Rolling over, she tried to get up, but was hit with a nasty case of vertigo and she bent over, coughing up a bit of bile. He cackled madly above her, cradling his hand.

"You stupid little bitch." The spell was almost over, but before she could stand straight, he kicked her in her stomach enough to send her rolling onto her back. She coughed, and he climbed on top of her, straddling her mid-section. Bending down, he tightened a hand around her slender neck. "Think you can come in here and kill all my men? Come in here and try to fucking kill _me_?! Not happening, princess." he chuckled darkly, sitting up straighter.

Reaching behind him, he pulled a kunai from his pouch. Sakura's eyes were going in and out of focus from the blow she received earlier. Thinking it through, she could activate that little rhombus on her forehead, but it wasn't properly charged, and if she used it in the state she was in, she was going to either pass out from exhaustion, or die on the way home. She didn't like those odds. That jutsu was not something to take lightly. She needed to rely on what strength she had. She could do it, if she really tried.

"I heard how you _love _finding antidotes to poison. I heard about Sasori. Impressive." he admitted, right as he dove his kunai into her shoulder. She hissed at the pain, but it wasn't anything she wasn't used to. But as soon as she felt the first fiery sting, she couldn't help the strangled cry that escaped her split lip. "I just mixed this little number up. I know it's no poison compared to Sasori's, but let's see how you fare with that in your limited time and resources."

To Sakura's surprise, he got off her and stood. He was about to walk away from her, but stopped, turning around. He laughed lightly and shook his head as if he had almost forgotten the keys to his home, but instead he walked back over to her, and slammed his foot against her arm and the jagged rock underneath it. She cried out, clutching the limb to her chest. Her medic side told her that her head trauma had indeed given her internal bleeding, and she whimpered quietly to herself. The pain coursing throughout her body from the mixture of her arm, the kunai wound, the poison, and her head was almost enough to make her pass out, and to top it all off, the exhaustion from her previous fights just hit her like a hurricane.

"Let's see you try to get home like that, bitch." he spit, turning back around. "We were supposed to be the next Akatsuki." he looked over at a body, and sighed, kicking it lightly. "Now I have to start all over."

Sakura felt her eyes droop, and she almost closed them, but they snapped back open with a single thought.

_ I'll fight with every ounce of my soul to get back to you..._

Struggling to stand, she managed finally, but she swayed slightly. Growling, she squeezed the hand to her good arm in a fist so tight it shook with rage.

"You dirty bastard." she gritted out. "The only reason you got lucky tonight was because I had just got done taking out your little Akatsuki wannabes." His brows shot to his hairline, but he showed no sign of worry. "You had quite a number there. Didn't fucking matter. One Kunoichi from Konoha was all it took." At that he growled. "I had fought the _real deal _before. You aren't shit." That sentence did it. He lunged forward, and she used what was left of her strength all into one move, focusing hard.

She appeared behind him, and with his own kunai, she sunk it so deep into his neck that she was sure they were going to have to bury him with it. Pulling his head back by his hair, she gave him a menacing glare.

"You may have broken my arm, poisoned me, gave me a concussion, and sunk a kunai into my shoulder, but you can never break my soul. Which I promised somebody very precious to me that I'll return to him with all of it's might. Too bad for you, right?" she asked, kicking him down as he gurgled, drowning in his own blood. "Pieces of shit like you deserve to die." she finished.

Walking over to her medical pack that had been cut away during her battle with the previous group, she pulled out her bandage, trying her best to wrap up her shoulder. After that, she made a temporary splint for her arm, and gobbled as many solider and plasma pills that were considered none-life threatening. With the temporary spike in chakra levels from the solider pills, she quickly halted the spreading of the poison and bleeding in her head. After that, she hauled ass for home. That was a close call, and if she didn't make it within the next few hours, she knew things would get bad, quick.

'Wait for me guys. I'm getting home.' she thought with a slight panic. The only real thing on her mind was a certain hyperactive blonde.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXX

Walking the outer perimeter, Kiba whistled lightly, Akamaru close at his side. He was on his way to Hinata's house, and he had just entered the gates from a scan of the wall. It wasn't a job he minded, and it was one he got frequently, due to Akamaru's incredible nose. All the tracker ninja got this job at some point, and normally things didn't get too out of control, besides your typical squirrel or visitor. But as he walked, thinking of different ways to surprise his girlfriend with dinner tonight, he heard panicked shouting from the checkpoint at the opening. Curious, he turned, walking slowly, trying his best to peek over the wall of the small building. What he saw made his heart stop.

"Holy shit! Sakura!" he cried, shoving the guards aside. He needed to act fast. He's never seen her this bad. Turning to one guard, he immediately began barking orders. "Radio in that Tsunade-Sama needs to get to the hospital _now_." With a quick sniff, his adrenaline gushed through his veins faster. "Get the poison unit ready. This is going to be a nasty one."

As the guards rushed to fulfill his orders, he boarded the bleeding girl onto Akamaru's back, the crimson liquid already staining his white fur.

"Come on, Akamaru. You know where to go." he whispered, scratching the dog's ear and both made a mad dash to the hospital. The pink haired girl was groaning, which was a good sign that she wasn't dead at least. "Sakura?" he asked feebly.

To his surprise, she raised her good arm. "I stink." she admitted. "I need a shower...and a medic." Her voice was so distant and cracked, it sounded terrible, but her gruesome humor still had him shaking his head.

"I think you're going to be fine." he chuckled heavily. This girl was really something.

Entering the hospital, everybody acted fast, the guards fulfilling their tasks effectively. His Hokage stood with a cot ready, and when Sakura was loaded onto it, she whimpered as her arm was jostled. Making a mad dash to the surgery room, Tsunade looked down, biting back her emotions.

"Sakura, what did you do?" she whispered, pushing her through the room. With a syringe, she took a sample of the poison from her shoulder. "Take this to the poison section. Hurry." she commanded, turning back to the panting girl. She frowned. It's going to be a long night.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXX

Sakura awoke with severe aches in her arm, head, shoulder, and a subtle ache everywhere else. The events that ensued in the cave came rushing back, and she snugged deeper into her covers, sighing in content. This was way better than that freaking rocky terrain, and while she ached, it was almost bearable. The hospital gown scratched her skin uncomfortably, and she turned to her side. Feeling a presence there, she slowly cracked open her blurry eyes. It was still dark outside, but the moon was completely full tonight, and when the jade orbs focused, she saw the sleeping face of the one person her heart had ached to see. Lifting herself up in her bed, she gave a soft cry as a sharp pain reminded her of her shoulder injury.

That little sound seemed to wake him, and as soon as he saw her shifting, he flew to her side. "Sakura-Chan!" he whispered, laying a hand on her lower back. The feeling should have felt awkward, since she was only clad in the thin hospital gown, and that area of flesh was completely exposed. Instead the action was soothing, and his warm, rough hand burned into her back, but in a wondrous way. "You shouldn't move!"

"Yeah." she grunted harshly, and it sounded as unladylike as possible. "I also shouldn't eat fried dough, but I do that anyways."

Despite the worry and reminiscent of his panic, he chuckled. "Two very different things."

She waved him off, and slanted her head up to look at him. "What time is it?"

Naruto looked around the room for a clock, and upon finding one, he squinted his eyes, reading the numbers. "It's about 1:40 am."

"Damn." she whistled, cringing as a painful surge hit her from her arm. Looking down, she saw a cast. The blonde's hand began rubbing itself gently on her back from her painful expression, and she could have groaned. That felt amazing.

"Sakura." he said seriously, making her tense. Here comes the lecture.

"I know, I know. I should have called for backup. I should have just left. I should have never have went. I should-"

She was cut off when he bent down, gathering her into his arms, squeezing her tightly against him, as if that was the only thing anchoring her to this world. And suddenly, she felt as if it was. Reaching up with the arm that wasn't in a cast, she squeezed him to her with just as much vigor. It might have been the drugs, but a few tears slipped down her cheeks against her will. One hand slowly trailed up her back, and cradled her head against his shoulder, his fingers tangled in the pink mess.

"You have, _no idea_ how much I worried about you. How I laid awake, wondering where you were, what you were doing..." he trailed. "You ever be so careless again, I'm going to die of a heart attack, and it's going to be on you. And then I'm going to haunt you everyday, and watch you shower."

Sakura burst into laughter through her tears, and nodded. "That's a deal." Pulling back, still in his arms, she noticed how awkwardly he was bent. This was probably her near death experience, the mood, her bubbling feelings, or probably the drugs again, but she cleared her throat and scooted over. His brows raised in shock. "Well, if you're going to, you better hurry up, because I'm offering you precious space in this freaking tiny bed, because I know you're going to stay all night because you probably sneaked in here past security, and I know how uncomfortable those chairs are, so..." she watched his expression, which was still shock. "Well?" she snapped, feeling a bit rejected.

The shock melted from his face, and he laughed lightly, but tossed his shoes aside, climbing into the bed. It _was_ very tiny, and Sakura was practically lying on top of him, which neither of the two complained. Her arm throbbed uncomfortably, but that was bound to happen regardless, and she laid the cast across his chest, her other arm under her head for support. One of her legs were thrown over his, and he snaked an arm around her shoulder, careful not to bump against the sore one.

"No funny business, or I kick your ass." she warned, and he merely chuckled at her threat.  
"Wow." he breathed, and messed with a tendril of her hair. "You must _reeealllyyy _be high."

"I will neither confirm, nor deny that." she giggled, burrowing her face into his neck. She took in a deep breath.

He still smelled just as amazing as always, and her heart ached when she realized how much she missed his smell. Her feelings for him were so intense, so deep that it scared her. It completely blew the little crush she had on Sasuke when they were kids out of the water. In those days, she didn't eve have a crush on the _real _Sasuke, being too naïve to see past the little dream she conjured of him. But with this, she saw the blonde for who he was as a person, and she couldn't deny that her feelings for him were so strong, it scared her. Naruto was quickly becoming something she couldn't live without on a daily basis. Everything with him was so easy going, so complete, so _right_.

"How long have you been here?" she asked lazily, humming in approval and he stroked her aching head. It almost soothed it in a way. Sakura concluded it just had to be his touches.

"Well, let's see." he sighed, acting as if he was thinking back to way back. "As soon as I heard you were back, and what had happened, I started flipping biscuits completely, and I got here as soon as they carted you off. And I stayed while you were in surgery, and when they put you in this room, I tried shoving my way past the nurses to get in here, which they denied me, the assholes. Sooo, I sneaked in here through the window, and been here ever since." he ended with a matter-of-fact tone, and Sakura laughed.

"You delinquent."

"Some things never changed." he agreed, grinning.

"By the way, did Shishou say why they left me in a cast instead of mending the bone?" she raised her cast gingerly, and hissed. That was a mistake.

His hand immediately resumed its rubbing, except this time to her upper back, and she forgot about the sharp pain in her arm. "Something about it being a nasty break, and the bone has to set over night in the correct position. I think she told a nurse they had to re-break the bone. They'll heal it fully tomorrow."

Sakura cringed. "I figured as much."

Naruto growled, shaking his head. "If I ever get my hands on that bastard..."

"Don't have to." the rosette yawned. "I made sure of that."

The blonde raised a brow. "Oh really?"

"Yup. That jackass is as good as dead. Well, he is dead." she giggled, knowing that one was probably the morphine talking.

Naruto held her tighter. "Even if I killed him a thousand times, it wouldn't be enough." he muttered against the top of her head. "Anyone who hurts you, it will _never _be enough."

Sakura smiled fondly, brushing a thumb across his pectoral. She felt his heart beat spike slightly. "You know? I almost died back there."

"I'm very aware, Sakura-Chan." he said in a disapproving tone. "This isn't something that's funny to joke about."  
"No! I'm being serious! I mean, I was laying there, my eyes closing for what was probably going to be my last time." She felt him press her closer, if that was even possible by the laws of physics. "And one thought kept me here. All I could think about was, Kami, what would I give to see that whiskered smile one more time, or the way you laugh, or to see you eat so much ramen you get sick—scratch that one, I really wouldn't like to see you barf like that again." she giggled, and then sighed as he resumed rubbing little circles on her side.

There was a long silence where he wasn't saying anything, and she was fine with that. Squirming to move closer, she jostled her arm again, and she whimpered.

"Stop moving around so much." he finally said. "You're making it worse."

"I'm sorry, but if I want to move my body, I will."

"You'll just hurt yourself. Stop."

"Mmmmm. Ok." she hummed tiredly, pressing her ear against his heart beat. "Naruto?"

"Yeah?"

"Why do you always make me fall for the cliches?" she snickered quietly. "This is a scene out of a novel, or cheesy chick flick."

The blonde chuckled quietly, careful not to shake the arm that was now draped over his stomach. "That's when you know things are great."

"I guess. I mean, I'm not complaining, but if Ino was here, she'd definitely make fun of me."

That time Naruto laughed. "She visited me today, at Ichiraku's."

Sakrua frowned. "I thought she wouldn't go near that place."

"Me too. She kept questioning me about you." he paused, trying to crane his neck to look down at her. "You know why?"

"No." she answered innocently, burying her face deeper into the crook of his neck to hide her blush, though she was sure he felt the heat radiating from her cheeks. Going to have to have a _talk_ with her, the rosette thought in annoyance.

"Hm." Naruto breathed, not entirely convinced.

They laid there for a good while, both listening to one another breathing, focusing on the heart beats against their bodies. Everything was so peaceful, despite what the pink haired Kunoichi had just experienced. This is what she wanted to come home to. And that's when she realized it. Naruto _was _slowly becoming her home. Hell, maybe he already is. One thing she knew, she'd let things take their course, and if they kept progressing as they have been, everything will fall into place naturally.

'Yeah, natural.' she thought with a groggy mind.

Another ten minutes passed, before Naruto opened his mouth, hesitating, but decided to take the dive.

"Sakura, wha...what, _are _we to be honest? I know that friends certainly don't do this, and as many times we've visited each other in the hospital like this, we haven't, and the night at my house, and just...I was just wondering..." he paused, waiting for an answer. He gently nudged her shoulder. "Sakura-Chan?"

Her deep breathing let go into light snores, and he shook his head in disbelief, chuckling. Of freaking course this was his luck. Sakura was completely right. This entire month was like a cheesy romance movie, and with a smile, he found that he didn't mind it one bit. This was the girl of his dreams, and he'd already waited for her for years. What would one more night do?

And with that thought, he pulled the covers to her shoulders, tucking her in tighter, and closed his eyes, focusing on her breathing as it lulled him into slumber with her.

**A/N: OK, like I said, this was my first fanfic that I actually published that had fighting in it. How did I do? **

**AND FOR EVERYONE WHO IS FLIPPING BISCUITS ABOUT THE KISS, well, good things come to those who wait. ;) I feel like this couple has such a history, you kind of have to ease into their relationship. Sorry, just trying to stay in the way I view the characters. HEY, at least I gave you some more, slightly intense NaruSaku? Once again, I stayed up way late writing this. I am seriously being thrown into cardiac arrest with how fast I'm writing these. It's all the favorites, follows, reviews, and the general pleasure of writing this couple that keep me going! I love my fans, I do I do I do! 3**

**Read, Review (pretty please?), Enjoy! **

**Read on, **

**~Dayonight7**


	6. Chapter 6

Sakura slowly regained consciousness, and very soon she was aware of a warm body underneath hers, the chest rising and falling with every breath. Instead of popping up and opening her eyes to face the day as she usually does, she only sighs in content and keeps herself shrouded in darkness. Focusing on her other senses more, she moves a hand, brushing it over the moving surface under, stopping above the place she knew to find the steady drumming that soothed her to no end. She listened closely, hearing the thrumming and light breathing mixing in harmony with her own, but instead of hearing birds chirping in the background like she had anticipated, she heard a hard pattering against the window.

'Oh, great. Rain. _Lovely_.' she mentally grumbled.

Feeling a rather cold draft from the window, she groaned, pulling the blankets tighter around herself and wiggling closer to the heat source next to her. Breathing in deep, his smell wrapped around her, and she smiled softly. This was amazing, despite the awful weather she knew would be outside, and she knew the freezing rain wouldn't touch her great mood. But with another thought, she was immediately dreading getting out of bed and found herself wishing she never had to. Today was the day she'd have to give her Shishou her mission report. They were always dreadful things to write and discuss, and awfully boring as well. Shaking her head, she chose to try and fall asleep once again, but a giant crackle outside sent the entire room into a tremor, and a blinding flash of light flashed from behind her eyelids.

So sudden it scared her, the blonde underneath her jumped up, dazed and concerned. "What the hell?" he said, staring around, blinking the sleep out of his eyes. It would have been comical to her, but when he jumped up, he jostled her broken arm. When she cried out softly, he snapped awake immediately and bent closer to her. "Shit, Sakura-Chan, I'm sorry. Did I hurt you?" he asked guilty, rubbing her back for the hundredth time within the 24 hours. There wasn't much he could do for her, so he had resorted to that, which she didn't mind at all.  
"Just a little." she hissed, sitting up with him. Rubbing her cast, though that wouldn't really help at all through the plaster, she turned to the man at her side. His face was a bright red, and she furrowed her brows together, a pink dust across her nose in response to his. "What?!" she asked accusingly.

Ok, she knew that she had invited him into the bed with her, but nothing had happened, and she figured they'd be adults about it in the morning. She figured Naruto would make a lame joke, they'd laugh about it, and they go get coffee. But no, here he was, staring at her as if she had just came out and said that she wanted to have his babies (she would _never _admit to herself at this point that that was a possibility one day). Frowning, she leaned over and lightly punched his shoulder.

"Stop." she demanded weakly. "Or I'll literally kick you out of this bed and onto the floor."

Naruto quickly adverted his eyes, and coughed awkwardly. "Sakura-Chan..." he trailed, before pointing at her chest, without facing her.

Puzzled, she looked down, to find what turned him into a babbling idiot. Oh. She did remember noticing that it was a bit drafty earlier, and she supposed it had to do with the weather as well. The thin hospital gown she was wearing did nothing to hid the fact that her nipples had perked from the cold, and were _very _noticeable. Blushing every shade of scarlet imaginable, she pulled up the blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders.  
"P-Pervert!" she cried, kicking him under the blanket. "Why the hell were you staring at my chest to begin with?"  
"I am _sorry._ I just so happened to-"

"Shut up! You liar! Even if that was what happened, why the hell did you stare at them for like, thirty minutes?!"

"Thirty minutes?! You need to check your time estimation, because it was more like thirty milliseconds!"

"Liar! You stared!" she accused, scooting away from him, until she hit the guard rail on the other side. Her side was still pressed against his.

"One glance!"

"_One glance too many!_" she growled, and the door to the room swung open, revealing a brunette nurse, who was flipping through a clipboard.

"Ok, Haruno-sama, we just need to get you ready for that healing session with your arm, and..." she finally looked up from her clipboard, staring at the blushing couple. It felt like an eternity of just gaping at one another, before she eventually cleared her throat. "Visitor hours don't start for another thirty minutes, sir."

"Understandable." Naruto hurriedly agreed, nodding his head enthusiastically. He surprisingly didn't put up a huge fight and slipped on his sandals, stepping around the nurse and stopped at the doorway. He turned, staring at the still fuming rosette. "I'll be downstairs in the lobby to pick you up." he said finally, turning down the hall.

Sakura sighed deeply, before shoving the blankets off her and standing. She regretted it instantly, and swayed a little, before catching herself on the wall.

"Haruno-sama! You shouldn't move around so much!" the brunette rushed to her side, holding her by her lower back and arm.

Sakura noticed with an uncomfortable frown that after having Naruto's hand on that spot almost all night, it felt awkward and foreign with the nurse. She wanted her to let go, but knew if she did, she would wobbled embarrassingly down the hall.

"Tsunade-Sama has prepared a room down the hall so she can do a final assessment of your injuries and mend that arm." she informed, leading Sakura out of the room.

The pink haired medic felt humiliated, having a nurse lead her down to her room as if she was a delicate elderly woman. She even felt as if she was bent over slightly, and it just added to her misery. She was suddenly very glad Naruto decided to go wait in the lobby instead of insisting he helped, as she was almost sure he would. He really didn't need to see this.

Upon entering the room, she saw her master, propped against the wall, reading through what was probably her mission folder, and Sakura went dutifully to the bed in the corner, the paper underneath her crunching as she sat down. The older woman snapped the folder shut with an audible clap, and walked over to her student, her stethoscope hanging from her neck.

"How you holding up, kiddo?" she asked, taking the scope and shoving the buds into her ears, leaning forward and listening to her vitals.

"Been better, but, oh well. It happens." she shrugged, breathing in deep for her master.

There was a long silence as Sakura continued breathing and Tsunade listened, and the honey haired woman checked her blood pressure, doing a chakra scan of her internal organs and head. When she pulled back the rosette's gown to expose her shoulder, Sakura cringed. There was a gaping scar, no longer a wound, but the fleshy mark showed just how intense it was.

"Ouch." she muttered, staring at it in shock.

"I know." Tsunade shook her head, scanning it for any remains of poison. "The poison burnt through the flesh, and it wouldn't let me heal it properly, though I knew you might have wanted to keep the scars anyways, like you always do, so no pain off our backs." she said, shrugging.

Sakrua nodded, thinking of all the scars that marred her body. Many Shinobi prefer to keep their scars, as if they were trophies from battles; a reminder of what they went through, and how they had another chance to live another day. She knew Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi, Sai, and almost all of Rookie 9 decided to keep it the exact way, and it was almost fitting that she did as well. Every mark made her proud. Made her a better person.

"So," her master began, grabbing her arm and removing the cast with a very sharp chakra scalpel, and gingerly began her healing, her hands glowing with bright green energy. It was very soothing, but Sakura grimaced as she felt the bone crack and shift into place, the fibers reconnecting. "What the hell happened back there, Sakura? That wasn't like you..."

"They purposefully made us believe there were only eight." she informed, cringing as she felt a pop.  
"There were way more. I fought them all, but by the time I got to the leader of the shits, I was already drained, and he got the best of me."

"Damn." Tsunade cursed. "How many were there?"

Sakura thought deeply for a minute, before shaking her head. "I don't know. At least thirty, but I weeded them out in small groups, so it wasn't that bad. Many of them couldn't fight for shit." she admitted, chuckling in bad taste. "Still, I got my ass handed to me."

"God damn it, kid. You're going to give me a heart attack." she whispered, and when she felt the procedure was done, reached forward and pulled the pink haired woman into a tight embrace. "Don't do that to me."

"I can't help it." she giggled, but gripped her close. Wow, were people getting huggy with her lately. "It just happens."

"Yeah." Tsunade agreed, letting her go and stepping to the doorway, filling in some of her chart "Now you know-"

"No strenuous activities, take it easy for a while, don't do anything reckless, blah." she interrupted, rolling her arm. It was tender, but whole again.

"Smart ass." the honey haired woman smirked, shaking her head.

"I learned from the best." Sakura gave her a cheeky smile, hopping off the table and stretching. Thinking about it now, she frowned. "Where are my clothes?"

"They were torn to shreds, so I figured you could wear a pair from your closet. That would look better than you walking out of here looking homeless or in _that_."

Sakura nodded, flushing a bit as she remembered the little incident _that _had produced, and began her way to her office when she heard the older woman calling to her. Turning around, she saw a lecherous smile on her master's face.

"Don't take to long, or you'll keep _your man _waiting." she cackled, and Sakura flamed.

"Shishou!" she huffed, hurriedly stomping to the cabinet she kept nestled in the corner of her office.

Pulling out the clothes, she dressed quickly. The rosette yawned, walking down the hallway a little straighter and without help, now that she didn't have the pain of her arm, and she was sure most the morphine was out of her system. Upon entering the lobby, she found Naruto slouched in the seat so far he was almost falling off the edge. He was staring at the ceiling, mouth slightly open and his eyes were flickering around. Chuckling, she walked up, and nudged his foot.

"What the hell are you doing?" she asked, sitting in the seat next to him.

He scrambled to sit up properly, leaning on the arm rest that connected to the chair she was in. "I got bored." he said seriously, "So I looked up at the ceiling and noticed that those little lines make pictures if you look really close."

She frowned in disapproval. "You sound like Shikamaru with clouds. And seriously? You have ADD. Get that checked out."

The blonde wiggled his brows at her suggestively. "You're a doctor. Check me out."

"Hm. I would, but, I'm technically a patient myself."

"Why aren't you staying?"

Sakura shrugged, looking on at the reception desk, where she saw Ami and another nurse watching Naruto, simultaneously giggling and whispering to each other. She rolled her pretty jade eyes. What a bunch of idiot school girls. "My injuries are no longer serious, my chakra levels are replenished, and if push comes to shove, I can take care of myself medically."

"Understandable." he nodded, rising to stand in front of her. She raised a pink brow, but smiled, and he returned the gesture as he reached out a hand. She grasped it firmly, letting him pull her up, and she relished in his warm fingers. She didn't release his hand, and his smile turned to a beaming grin. "I do believe I need to get you home."

"I could deal with that." she answered, and with a thought, sighed. "I need to write my report anyways. I figured I could walk with you to the Hokage Tower when you leave for training."

"Sounds like a plan."he nodded, but gave her a frown when she released his hand.

He opened his mouth to try to bring up what he was meaning to ask last night, but she had a glare etched into her features. Turning his vision to where she was staring intently, he almost laughed. She was intimidating the poor brunette that had walked into the room earlier, who was bent over, half whispering into the receptionist's ear. Upon seeing the rosette's death expression, she backed away slowly, before bowing to the two women in apologies and hauling ass down the corridor. Naruto did laugh at that, and when the woman at his side heard him, she turned the glower to him.

"What?" she hissed.  
"I just find it cute when you scare the shit out of people." he admitted, smiling his bright smile at her.

"Oh, shut up." she said, tilting her head to the side to hide the blooming crimson on her face. "Let's go."

Following her through the glass double doors, it was way worse than what he had previously thought. The rain was literally pounding the ground in sheets, and when he stuck a single testing hand out into the open air, it was immediately drenched. Turning to Sakura, he frowned.

"What do we do?"

"Well, I say we make a mad dash for it." she answered, watching the storm with a worried expression. Facing Naruto, she shrugged. "It's just water. We can dry off at my house, if you're still intent on staying. It's the closest option."

"Sounds like a plan." he agreed, and they both began their sprint to her house, which was only a few blocks away, considering she wanted to be close to her work.

Ducking underneath the lean-to of the building, she ran up the stairs and shoved her key into the lock, already feeling her clothes clinging uncomfortably to her body. She opened the door, kicking off her sopping shoes and heard Naruto following close behind. She padded down the hallway, picking out two of her fluffiest towels from the linen closet. When she returned, she found Naruto still waiting at the door. She frowned at him.  
"Why haven't you come in?" she asked, tossing one of the towels his way, which he caught effortlessly.

He rubbed himself down, and finally stepped inside. "I didn't want to get the carpet wet." he admitted, shuffling around, looking embarrassed. "Hey Sakura, I really don't feel like sitting in wet clothes, but-"

"Hold on." she sighed, walking to her bedroom and returning with a man's shirt and shorts. He stared at her with a hard expression, looking almost angry, and she giggled. "No, you idiot. My dad gave me a few of his hand-me-downs a long time ago, and I sleep in them sometimes when I miss him. Really comfortable, might I add. I'm sorry I don't have any underwear for you, so you can keep the shorts, just give me back the shirt after your clothes have dried." she handed him the items, and he held onto her hands under the tiny pile of cloth. She glanced down. "You know where the bathroom is. Just give me your clothes once you've changed."

He slowly slid the items out of her hands, brushing down hers in the process, and he walked in the direction of the bathroom. Biting her lip, Sakura pulled at her wet shirt uncomfortably, and grimaced when it hit her body again with a wet plop. She went to her bedroom, pulling out a pink tank top and black sweatpants, brushing through her wet hair so it wouldn't tangle. Shivering, she suddenly felt as if a blissfully hot cup of tea would do her some good, and probably Naruto as well.

She made her way to her kitchen, rummaging through her cabinets and pulled down a box of limited edition chamomile tea, a recent pick that her grandmother had gifted her from her last trip to the grocery store. She had been saving it for a quiet night when she wanted to curl up and read her medic scrolls, but she figured now would be a good time as any. Setting a pot to boil, she almost jumped when she heard Naruto enter the tiny space.

"I already threw my clothes in the dryer." he called to her.

"Alright. Did the clothes fit?" she asked without looking, focusing on adjusting the heat on the stove.

"I think so." he said with a hint of puzzlement.

Turning around to face him, she bit down the feeling in her stomach again. Her father obviously did not have the pectoral build the blonde had, so it was tight around his chest area, but it clung deliciously. The bottom of the shirt hung looser, and just right. If he moved a certain way, the light gray material exposed every abdominal muscle he had. The shorts seemed as if they fit and were comfortable, and he looked as if he was just planning on lazing the day away, which was what they were probably going to do, if the storm didn't let up soon.

Despite her aroused state and red face, she cleared her throat and shook her head. "It looks terrible."

"What?! Seriously?!" he screeched, looking down and twisting in awkward angles. "I thought it looked fine!"

Sakura couldn't help the giggle that slipped past her throat. "Ok, you caught me. It looks great." she said, smirking. Before she knew it, she added on, "Reeeally great."

"Oh really?" he chuckled, walking closer. "That's just perfect."

"Step back, you!" she warned, picking up a clean spatula from her washed dishes pile by the sink. "I'm armed."

"And I'm trembling in my boots." he countered, rounding the counter, getting closer to her.  
"You're barefoot!" she laughed, holding the spatula up to his chest, and it lightly bumped against it.

He reached forward, grasping the plastic, sliding it out of her hands, and to be trying to threaten him, she put up no fight when he unarmed her. He sat the object onto the counter adjacent to him, and reached forward, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her flush against his body. Her eyes lowered a bit, the lashes framing her jade eyes amazingly, he noticed.

"The innuendo still fits."

"Innuendo? Since when have you learned such big words and when to properly use them?" she breathed, sliding her arms up to his shoulder.

"Since when I learned to clean my apartment, stop at my twelfth bowl of ramen, and to throw out the milk when it's two days past the expiration day."

"What? Why two days?"  
"Hey! It doesn't go bad until it smells bad!"

"Nasty!" she laughed, crinkling her nose. When he bent down closer, she didn't reject him.

Her eyes fluttered shut, and he took his sweet time, making sure she wouldn't pull back. Seeing that she was accepting him just as much as he had already done to her, he swooped in. She had just felt the first brush of his lips against hers, when the tea kettle shrieked, and it almost literally scared the shit out of her. Screaming along with it, she jumped, knocking her head against the blonde's, and she cried as it jostled the head injury.

"Damn it!" she yelled. Pushing past Naruto and slamming the pot to the side, she cranked the stove harshly off.

Leaning against the counter for a minute to make the pounding in her brain cease, she pulled down two cups, tossing a tiny tea bag in both, pouring a bit of boiling water in both. Turning around, she noticed Naruto holding a hand against his mouth, an angry yet shocked expression on his face, and a cute pink coloring across his cheeks. He wasn't looking at her, but out the window, his brows furrowed, and she immediately felt her stomach drop to her toes. He wouldn't look at her, he looked upset and shocked, and he looked like he was thinking really hard. Hyperventilating, she came to a conclusion. He didn't feel anything when their lips touched. Granted, it was barely a kiss to begin with, but he must have not felt a thing. Her fingertips creeped to her own mouth, and she still felt a light tingle. Oh no. It's happening.

Clearing her throat, she sat down the two mugs on her table. "Sorry, as you can see, I made tea."  
"Yeah." he answered, and his voice came out gruff.

Chewing on her lip, Sakura sat down, sipping the scolding tea way before it was ready to drink, as she always did. Looking out the window, she noticed it was getting worse, if that was even possible. "You know, I thought today was going to be beautiful, and I would skip home, happy, and after I turned in my report, take a walk through the park." she sighed, taking another drink. "Oh well."

"It looks like a fish is going to pop in front of your window any minute." he joked, still having not touched his tea. It was to be expected. Naruto never really liked things molten hot like she did. Actually, thinking on it, a lot of people didn't. "If it keeps up like this, I am not going to training today."

"Fine by me." she said, giving him a smirk. Before he could answer to that, her lights ahead flickered, and she groaned. "No, don't you freaking _dare._" she yelled at the fixture above, before it steadied. Satisfied, she took another drink, and all at once it shrouded them in darkness. Crying out, she stood abruptly, her chair scooting loudly. "For the love of Kami!" she growled, going to her sink and crouching, picking through the cabinet underneath. Pulling out four huge candles and a box of matches, she lit them and sat two in her living room, and two on the kitchen table. "Can this day get any worse?"

"Well, a huge bear could bust through that door right there and maul us both. Or Tsunade could hit menopause and come in here to take it out on us. The two situations are pretty much identical."

Sakura shook her head, laughing. "You're terrible."

"I get that a lot. And it's almost always from you and Teme. What's up with that?"

"We don't lie about who you are."

"Really now?" he asked, and she nodded, rising to set her mug in the sink.

"Yup." Looking out the window while she was standing, she cursed. "My apartment is a piece of shit."

Getting up, he placed his half drunk mug into the sink with hers, and leaned against the counter. "Come live with me." he shrugged, as if it was a natural question.

Shaking her head, Sakura grinned. "It's tinier than mine!"

"Hey! I'm moving into the Hokage mansion soon—and yes, you _are _helping—so there will be plenty of room for the both of us!"  
"Oh, yes, definitely." she nodded, smiling playfully now. "I can't wait."

She pushed herself off the counter, and walked to the living room. Pulling out a pen and form from her end table, she threw herself across the couch and began scribbling. Naruto followed suit, falling into the seat that wasn't occupied by her body. Sakura continued filling in her report, and she eventually felt him playing with her feet. She squirmed, at first annoyed as she was trying to get work done, but soon she was giggling as she wiggled around. Having enough, she threw down her pen and paper and sat up, pushing on his chest.

"Stop it, pest!" she whined. "I need to get it done! I know you're bored with the power out, but Naruto, _please_."

He caught her hands and pulled them behind him and over his shoulders. "Hm."

"Hm, what?" she asked, scooting her lower half closer, and he rested his hands on her hips.  
"What are we?" Naruto asked seriously, searching her eyes. She didn't look panicked or cornered, but rather as if she was expecting it, which he smiled softly at. "We definitely aren't friends anymore." he said seriously, leaning forward. "And I know for one, that I really like you. So, what then?"

"Whatever you want us to be." she whispered, leaning her forehead against his, giving him a heartfelt smile. That was all the answer he needed. The ball was in his court again, and he was more than willing.

With the low light from the flickering candles, and the rain pounding from the outside as their hearts beat wildly together, it was really something out of a movie. Sakura's breath hitched in her throat, thinking about just how _perfect _this moment was. How perfect everything seemed with Naruto, and she really wanted to bash her head in for not noticing this sooner. She felt a strong hand slide down her hip and grip her thigh, pulling her to straddle his waist. Her stomach did a somersault, and she almost became dizzy with the hot feeling coursing through her veins like adrenaline. His oceanic blue eyes were shades deeper than normal, and she was sure it wasn't because of the lack of proper lighting.

Leaning forward, he firmly pressed his lips against hers, and she almost moaned on the spot. This was nothing like the feather touch in the kitchen earlier. His lips were surprisingly soft, and just like the rest of his body, was radiating heat. Her mouth seemed to perfectly mold against his, and she felt his hands slide to her back and up her tank top, which she arched her back at the rough callouses that traced patterns on her spine, but she didn't complain. It felt amazing. His kissing became more feverish and demanding, and while he was a bit clumsy, he made up for it with the sheer pent-up passion that was just bursting at the seams.

Impatient, he hesitantly began to slip between her lips, and when she parted them, he didn't wait to delve his tongue to search her mouth. She tentatively began to explore with her own, and the heat spiked so high, she whimpered. Upon hearing her little cry, he growled low in his throat, the sound predatory and to Sakura, completely irresistible. Her hands buried themselves in his hair, the blonde spikes just as silky as they looked, and still a little damp from the rain. Tugging gently, she pressed her body forward and against his, her hips instinctively moving in slow circles. Her mind was in a haze, and having never really done this before, her body was reacting on it's own; but she heard an appreciative groan from Naruto, and she figured she was doing the right things.

In the blink of an eye, he pulled apart and pressed her onto her back gently, hovering above her, panting as he watched her with heated eyes. She gripped both shoulders, yanking him back down and for a second awkwardly clanked their teeth together, in which they both chuckled at, smiling against each others lips before all humor was wiped away with the feeling of them moving together. She felt his arousal press against her stomach, and she shivered. He shifted his body to the side, trailing a hand down to her thigh and pulled it up against his hip, pressing her lower half closer. When he tried to shift back to her center though, he accidentally leaned against her tender shoulder, and when she cried out, he knew immediately it wasn't from pleasure.

Pulling back, his brows laced together, a concerned expression etched in his flushed face. Taking his hand off her thigh, he pressed it against her cheek before sliding it to cup her chin. "Shit! Sakura-Chan, are you ok?"

Biting her swollen lip, she nodded. "Yeah, it just hurt a little, that was all. It's healed, but it's sore." she panted, reaching up to try to sooth the now throbbing joint with a bit of chakra. "It's fine."

"No, it's not." he sighed, letting his hand fall from her face and onto the cushion next to her. He hung his head, and her line of vision was blocked by his bangs. "I'm sorry."

"Naruto, it's fine. Don't you think you're kinda over reacting?"

There was a tiny pause, and she heard him let out a long breath. "I just...I still feel terrible about what happened. I should have known something would go wrong. I had a feeling. I-"

"Naruto. _Shut up_." she gritted out. "Injuries happen. Some information isn't given. But it turned out alright, didn't it? I came back to you." Cupping his face in her hands, she literally almost forced him to look at her. "If we blame ourselves for everything that goes wrong on a mission, we'll go insanely depressed. So just stop, don't beat yourself up about it. You didn't do anything."

Naruto frowned, staring at her. "Sakura-Chan-"

"I said shut up." she warned, gently tapping the side of his face in a mock-slap. Sliding her hands to his chest, she gripped his collar, pulling him close while letting her eyes flutter closed. "And kiss me."

The blonde smirked, leaning forward and pressing his forehead against hers, their noses brushing. "I would, but I don't think you want Ino seeing us all tangled up." he whispered, his lips lightly tapping hers as he spoke.

"Mmmm." she hummed, still in a daze by having him so close, not really registering what he was saying. The rosette pressed her lips against his anyways, which she felt him sigh happily, but as soon as she tangled her fingers in his hair again, her eyes snapped open in realization. "Pig?" she screeched, sitting up abruptly, taking Naruto with her.

"Yes. I felt her turning to the stairs a few seconds ago." he said, looking at the door. Right on cue, a sharp pounding assaulted the wood. "Damn, I am good!"

"Oh, shut up." she hissed, narrowing her eyes at him. Pushing off the couch, she opened the door, Ino immediately shoving her way inside. She had the angriest expression on her face, and her blue eyes were filled with tears. Shit. "Hey, Pig-"

"DON'T YOU 'HEY, PIG' ME, FOREHEAD." she shrieked, pointing at Sakura as if she were an offending object. "You _dare _not call or contact me yet today, when I had to find out what happened to you by freaking _Lee. Freaking _LEE, Sakura." she continued to scream, and ended with a dramatic sniff. "I thought we were best friends. Now, not so much."

"Ino, I'm sorry, ok? Things have just been going really fast and all at once for me. I was going to call you tonight, I swear. Now shut up and come have some tea, you're soaking wet, you idiot. Why didn't you just call me?" she asked, leading her blonde friend into her bedroom, where she gave her a pair of her own clothes she had forgotten at her apartment once. Oh well, now she can take them back.

"I wanted to see it with my own eyes." she admitted, turning towards the bathroom. "I wanted to make sure you were actually ok, instead of me calling and you saying you're ok so I won't worry, when I know half the time you're not." Sakura stared at her, and Ino huffed. "_Yeah, _I know about that, Forehead."

"Just go get changed. We totally ditched Naruto in the living room just now." the pink haired woman sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Yeah, I saw him here. So what's the deal?" she leaned in, and dropped to a whisper, her face having 'devious' written all over. "You guys get in any action yet?"

Sakura was suddenly flooded with the intensity of the last twelve minutes and her face blew up in flames. There was definitely action, but until she fully got to talk to Naruto about their relationship, she really didn't feel as if she had the right to spill the details yet. "None of your business! Now get!"

Closing the bathroom door on Ino's face, she went to her dryer and pulled out Naruto's clothes, folding them neatly into a pile and walking back out into the living room, setting them on the end table. When Sakura faced him, he was watching her with an unreadable and hot expression. She bit down the next round of blush and plopped onto the couch.

"So, were you making pictures out of the lines in my ceiling while I went to deal with Pig?" she asked lightly, pulling a throw pillow from the side and clutching it to her chest.

"No." he admitted, turning to the blank television. "I was just thinking."

"Ooo, you and thinking don't go hand in hand." His blonde head swiveled towards her, and he had a playful scowl on his face. She stuck her tongue out at him. "It's true."

"You're just lucky your handicapped, otherwise I'd take you down."

"I am not handicapped." she sniffed, turning her head to the side. "I'm injured. A _difference, _thank you."

"Not really, Grandma."

"That is _it_!"

Laughing, she threw her pillow at his face, in which he caught effortlessly. She reached forward to push on his chest again, and he caught her hands, holding them together as if they were in hand cuffs. She squirmed around while he laughed, until a loud knock on the wall caught both their attentions.

"No rough housing on the couch." Ino called, but went to smash in next to Sakura anyways. "Scoot over, both of you!"

"Yeah." Sakura snorted. "Or you're going to crush us with your monster ass."

"I'll kill you, Sakura Haruno. Injured or not."

"I could still beat you, injured or not."

"Girls! Girls! You're both pretty." Naruto interrupted, laughing. "Now, let's focus on what we can do until either the power comes on or the rain lets up."

Ino shrugged, standing already and moving towards the closet, where Sakura kept her board games. "We could play a game?"

Sakura sighed, already dragging off the couch and setting the candles on the edges of the table. "Why not?"

Naruto smirked, already sitting next to the table. "Loser has to buy lunch tomorrow for the other two."

"Deal!" the girls said in unison, setting up the game.

While joking and taunting and playing the game, Sakura noticed that Naruto was sitting extremely close to her, and at one point, even brushed the back of his knuckles down her spine. She didn't mind at all, and ended up just leaning her back on his knee eventually. Ino noticed everything with a wide smirk.

'Wait until I tell everybody.' she thought with a cackle, and moved her game piece smugly to finish.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXX

Today was gorgeous, Sakura confirmed as soon as she opened her window that morning. The birds were singing, the sun was shining, flowers were scented strong in the air, and the rosette was sure that it was going to be a wonderful day. She walked into the kitchen, poured herself a hot cup of coffee and read through the news paper sections; and by sections, she means just the immediate news, then she went straight for the comic strips. The funnies were only smiling worthy, but she still enjoyed them.

With a quick breakfast of oatmeal and toast with half an apple, she was out the door and on her way to the hospital, despite the many protests of Naruto and Ino. She was more than able to work, but she really couldn't do much heavy lifting or running yet. She really wanted to hop back onto the working train as soon as possible, and she had head a rumor from a nurse when she was walking to her office the day she was released that the surgeries were falling way behind. It's been quiet a few days since her incident, and she was more than capable of a few surgeries and clinicals. Sighing, Sakura pushed open the giant double doors of the building and rushed to her office, swiping away the miniscule amount of dust from her writing pad.

The pink haired medic soon went to work, totally forgetting the amount of time that was steadily flying past her. Before she knew it, she was onto writing her twelfth report, when a knock on the door finally resulted in her lifting her head. She cringed at the cramped muscle in her neck, and began massaging it.

"Come in!" she called, pulling out another piece of paper and scrawling notes onto it for the night shift head director.

When nobody spoke, she lifted her head to find Naruto leaning against the door frame. She hadn't seen him since the night he, Ino, and she had spent the day playing board games. She also recalled having to pay a bowl of ramen to Naruto, and taking Ino to the Barbeque. It was still fun, despite her losing, and the blonde has been so busy with training lately, that he had been apparently staying until real late at night, thus having limited time for seeing friends. Although, now that she thinks about it, they're more than friends. Or, she thinks so. He never gave her a straight answer, but, neither did she to him. Tucking that back into her mind for later that night, she greeted him.

"Hey." she said tiredly, smiling. When he didn't return her smile, she immediately frowned. "Oh no."

"Oh yes." he countered, pushing off the frame with his shoulder and walking towards her. He ignored the chairs and couch, but instead came to stand next to her behind the desk, and leaned a hip against the wood. "You're working too late again, and so soon, after what happened."

"It's not that bad! I'm fine, really. I just needed to catch up on some work, that's all." she assured, and snorted. "Besides, it's been a few days."

"When I told you to take a break, that doesn't mean go take a tiny vacation—one where you almost were killed—and then hop right back into working yourself into the ground again!" he scolded. "Learn how to regulate yourself."

"Look, Naruto, it's ok."

"No! No, it's not!" he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Concerned, Sakura sat down her pen and stood, approaching the blonde cautiously. "Ok, is this solely about me working? Or is something else bothering you?" she asked, reaching forward and putting her hand on his shoulder.

Sighing, he lifted up his own hand and laid it on top of hers, giving it a squeeze. "No. That has a little to do with it, but there's something else." he admitted, hanging his head between his shoulders.

The rosette got a sick feeling in her gut, and she swallowed hard, letting her hand fall. He didn't protest, but continued to wallow in silence. "What is it? You're worrying me." she started slowly.

Lifting his head, he looked very tired. "Baa-Chan wants to see you, Sakura."

"About?" she coaxed.

"I'll let her tell you that." he said, and turned towards the door, stopping at the frame and waiting as she got her things together and stripped off her white coat, hanging it on the hook in the cabinet.

"Is it that bad?" she gulped, following after him. He said nothing, instead chose to stare ahead of him. She sighed, throwing her hands up in the air. "Fine, be like that, you brat."

"I'm sorry, Sakura-Chan. I'll just wait to talk about this until Baa-Chan tells you, ok?"

"Why can't you tell me?"

"This isn't something I can say out in the open." he muttered, tugging on her hand. "Come on. We'll have plenty of time to talk about this in a little bit."

"Ok...if you say so..."

Trying his best to lighten the mood some, Naruto began asking her about work, which she told him about the amount of paperwork she went through, which they both crinkled their noses at. She then told him about the auxillary artery cannulation she had preformed, and when she tried to explain the surgery to him he blanked out, so she shook her head at him and laughed. Soon they were in front of the Tower, and his mood went sour again. Opening the door for her, she inwardly panicked, and when she reached her master's office, the tension in the air was palpable. The room also occupied a few Shinobi she knew were of Jounin level, and even Kakashi-sensei.

"What's going on here, Shishou?" she asked slowly, setting down her bag of medical scrolls. Tsunade motioned for her to sit.  
"Sakura, we're really sorry we have to bug you after what happened a few days ago, but this is serious." she said grimly, looking up at Kakashi briefly. "Recently, we sent a team of retrieval Shinobi to gather the bodies from your previous mission."

The sinking feeling was getting worse. "Uh huh."  
"Quite a skilled killer now, aren't you, Sakura?" Kakashi smiled behind his mask, his eyes crinkling. It would be just like him to try to act light in this kind of setting, she thought with a smirk. "And quite a number too. I'm impressed."

"Kakashi." Tsunade warned, and turned back to her student seriously. "We took your word for it in your report, and the numbers of bodies matched up perfectly; all except one." she continued darkly, reaching forward for a piece of paper. On closer inspection, Sakura saw that it was her mission report. "We couldn't find the man of this description, and right about the place you said you left the body, there was indeed a puddle of blood, and a crusted kunai, but nothing else." she finished, folding her hands in front of her frown.

"No no no no no." Sakura whispered, looking through her report frantically. Upon seeing the highlighted area of a description, her heart stopped. "No way. Not possible. Shishou, I hit him right in the jugular. I _saw _him bleed out and take his last breath. This isn't...possible." she cried, throwing her report back onto the table and slumping in her chair.

"Whatever happened, he's nowhere to be found, and there's been several reports in Kumi that several young boys have started going missing."

"Or joining a gang." she breathed, going completely limp in her seat. Raising a hand to her head, she tugged lightly on a few locks. "Damn it!"

"Now, I think he knows we'll be coming for him again." she grumbled, and Sakura saw that she was itching to open the bottom drawer to her right, where the rosette knew she kept her sake. She didn't blame her. "I'm sending out a squad this time. And you being the only real witness to what this man looks like, and what his strengths are, I figured you would be ideal for this squad, but I'm not sure-"

"He doesn't know how strong I _really _am!" Sakura hurriedly shot in. "He fought me when I was drained, and I still 'took him down', only this time, I'll make sure I severe his head from his fucking body." she growled, clenching her fists.

"I don't think that's a great idea." Swiveling her head around, she gaped at Naruto, who was the one who spoke up. "We shouldn't send her out so soon. I think he'll be expecting her." As he said this, the room fell silent, and he wouldn't meet her eyes.  
"What the hell, Naruto?" she hissed, glaring a hole into his whiskered cheek. "If this is your way of protecting me, it's doing nothing but pissing me off, so stop!"

"She has to go, Naruto." she frowned, staring at the man at the doorway.

"Then at least let me go with her!" he blurted out, shoving himself off the wall. "Let me go, Baa-Chan! I can help!"

Tsunade sighed, rubbing her temples. "Naruto, you have to stay. Your training is still in progress."

"But it can wait, can't it?"

"No, it can't."

"Why the hell not?!"

"How many times do you think I want to run out of this office, and insert myself into a mission?!" the older woman hollered, glaring now. The room tensed. "Do you think, for one second, I didn't want to go out with Jiraya, that mission he died on?!" she finally calmed, looking down at her balled up fist.

"As Hokage, your duty is to stay within the village, and protect it from the inside. Better you learn that now, rather than later. Think of it as part of your training." she finished coldly. The room was silent still, and she glanced around at all the Shinobi that filled it, before resting on Sakura. "Be ready in two days, that way I can dig around in this a little more." Tsunade turned to Naruto. "And you, be here at eight o clock sharp, tomorrow morning. Dismissed."

Everybody filed out of the room, and as expected, the blonde haired man waited for Sakura to gather her bag and follow him out into the hall. As soon as everybody left, she shoved him against the empty corridor wall, the same one where they shared a moment almost two weeks ago. Slight moonlight from the waning moon outside casted a ghost of a milky light through the windows. He said nothing, but stood still, letting her hold him against the cold surface.  
"What the hell?!" she whispered harshly. "Why say that? Is that your way of trying to protect me? Because all that did was make me angry, and make me look silly. The Hokage, who is also a world renown medical ninja, thinks I should go on this mission, but you want to sit there and tell me and everybody else that I can't handle it?" He was still quiet, his jaw clenched, and he wasn't looking at her, but rather above her head. She stared at him, waiting for a response. "Naruto!"

His eyes snapped down to hers, and he looked a mixture of worried, hurt, and upset. It wasn't an expression that looked good on the normally cheery blonde's face, and it scared Sakura. "Do you have any idea how much you mean to me?" he whispered, and that was certainly not what Sakura was expecting. The sentence sent her jerking back slightly, and she lowered her eyes. "Do you know freaking _crazy _it's driving me, that I can't go on this mission with you?"

"Naruto..."

"No. Just stop." he huffed, closing his eyes. "Just...stop."

Lowering her head, she leaned her forehead against his pectoral, her hands no longer pinning him against the wall, but rather resting on his chest now. "This is how it is." she sighed. "And I want you with me, I do, but I understand where Shishou is coming from where she's standing on this."

"I do too." he admitted. "But I can't stand the thought of you going back out there to find the man that had hurt you so badly. I want to rip his fucking throat out." he gritted through his teeth, shaking his head, his arms rising to encircle her around the middle, his hands resting on her mid-back. "I want to go to help you."

"I have all the other Jounin this time. I'll be fully prepared and ready for the worst." she said, pulling away from him. "I'd be lying if I said I'm completely fearless, but who is before a mission? It will be better this time."

"You better be right." he said, his mouth slanting.

With that she began out the doors and towards her home, Naruto following suit behind her. Sakura giggled slightly, and shook her head.

"You know, keep following me home like this, people will think you live there. You do have an apartment of your own, you know." she called out behind her, and he chuckled, trotting up to her side.

"But yours is so much better." he informed, grinning happily at her.  
"Why's that? Last I checked, it was shit."

"Because, it has you."

Despite how cheesy that was, she found herself blushing. The rest of the way was quiet, both drowned in their own thoughts, and when she came close to her door, she turned around, where he was leaning up against the railing, like the night before the beginning of her mission. That brought a strange feeling to her, and she wasn't sure if she liked it or not. Glancing at the ground, she eventually met his gaze, and hesitated. He raised a blonde brow at her.

"Naruto. I know we kinda brushed up on it earlier, but...uh...I was just wondering, if you were wanting to put a label on...'this'." she said, motioning between the two of them with her pointer finger. "I know that I like you, and I like you a lot." she finally admitted, swallowing hard, her stomach doing weird things again. This isn't butterflies, she thought with a wince, this is freaking monster birds. "So..."

Naruto chuckled, pushing off the railing and walking over to where she was propped against the door. "I know that I like you a lot personally, so, if we were going to put a 'label' on anything, I'd say I'd put a label on you that says '_mine_'." he leaned down and whispered that last part in her ear, and she shivered.

"Naruto Uzumaki!" she mock glared at him when he pulled away, and puffed her cheeks out to the brink of unattractiveness. "I am my own person, idiot!"

Laughing, he leaned a forearm against the door by her head. "Worth a try." he said softly, shrugging.

"Hm." she hummed. "Fine. But if I _have _to be yours, it's only fair I get you in return."

"_Have _to? Please. You know you want me." he said, waggling his eyebrows.  
Sakura stared at him, straight faced. "On second thought, keep yourself. I'm going to go inside."

"Oh, come on, Sakura-Chan!" he whined, pressing closer.

"Don't be so needy. You're acting like a woman."

"Funny, Teme said the same thing the other day."

"It's a sign." she nodded, pressing her hands against his pectorals.

Naruto didn't respond, but simply watched her expression, and she smiled at him, which he returned almost instantly, just like he always did. That was one of the things she loved about him. Thinking on it, she loved a lot of things about him already. Even his faults, no matter how annoying they were. She slid her arms from his chest to his back, where she gripped his shirt into two fistfuls.

Reaching up on the balls of her feet, she kissed him gently at first, but when he pressed more desperately, she returned the intensity with just as much enthusiasm. Soon, the temperature spiked again, and they were clinging to one another feverishly, still against the door to her apartment, and Sakura found herself not caring if her neighbors saw her or not. She didn't care if the whole village saw them; hell, the whole _world_. All that mattered right now was her, and the hyperactive knucklehead that was currently melting her mind with those heated lips of his.

Pulling away, they were both out of breath, and watching each other for a long time with hooded eyes. Eventually Sakura's hands unwound from his shirt, and turned around to unlock her door. When she opened it, she faced him again, giving him a soft peck on his lips.  
"Everything is going to be fine." she assured. "And pretty soon I'll be back again, and you can bug the crap out of me some more."

Before she could enter her apartment, he grabbed her arm. "You will be here for the festival at least?" he asked worriedly, swallowing hard.

"Of course. That's three weeks away. I may miss the big move, but I'll catch this bastard again, find out how the hell he smooth talked his way from the grim reaper, then bash his head in for good. I'll be here for the festival." the rosette finished.

"I'm holding you to that." he threatened, and started down the steps.

Shaking her head, Sakura threw her bag next to the couch and fell onto it, a smile gracing her lips when she thought about the blonde haired idiot. Finally, their feelings were out in the open, and she was the happiest she's ever remembered being. Looking out the window, she watched the moon hovering in the inky sky, and felt her eye lids droop, the rest of the day crashing down onto her. She really hoped the mission that was coming up would pass quickly and smoothly so she could get back to Naruto, and seriously try out the whole dating thing, which was what she was sure this was.

But as she rolled over, deciding to sleep on her couch that night, she couldn't help the one question that raced in the back of her mind.

She was so sure she sent the bastard on the way to hell. So how in the world did he get out of death's grip?

**A/N: So, yeah. I hope I didn't disappoint the whole getting together scene. There's a looottttt of NaruSaku in here, because there isn't going to be a lot in the next chapter, and I'm heading on my first round of Vacation tomorrow, so there won't be another chapter for a few days longer than normal. Sorry guys. :/ **

**Anyways! I feel like I'm going to get about 60-40% ratio of reaction on this, and mainly it's going to be bad. WHY? I don't know. Maybe I finally progressed the relationship to the step below the climax, and I'm nervous. Did I push it too quick? Hm. **

**Read, (By the power invested in me...) Review, and Enjoy! **

**Read on, **

**~Dayonight7**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I AM SO SORRY GUYS. Right after vacation, I went on another one, and then I had school starting back up, and I just wanted to tell you that I am deeply sorry, and I will continue this story, it'll just take longer with the updates. I may be in high school, but I'm in all AP classes and I spend on average four hours of homework a night, and over the weekend, along with other junk, I do average six to eight, along with all my extra curricular and GAH. Bear with me? Anyways, finally here, enjoy!**

Sighing, the blonde haired man set down another box, standing back straight and rolling his shoulders. Looking around, he frowned, shaking his head in mock disbelief. So many damn boxes lined against the walls of his new living room that it almost looked like he lived in a giant cardboard box. Smirking to himself, he could only imagine what his girlfriend would say to that comment. Probably something to do with homeless men, he mused. His heart skipped a beat in his chest when it donned on him, what he just said. _Girlfriend. _Sakura Haruno, the girl he's dreamed about for years, the love of his life (he hasn't told her, but he's sure everybody and their grandmother already knows this), had returned his feelings and wanted to be his _girlfriend. _Smiling to himself, he leaned against a giant box of clothes, staring out the window.

Life is good.

"Dobe!" he heard a grunt from the doorway. "Come help me with this damn box! It isn't even my junk!"

Rolling his blue eyes, Naruto shoved himself off the cardboard and started towards the door. "So stupid! I thought you said you were strong, Teme?"

"It doesn't have to do with strength, idiot, considering the fact that you didn't get a box to _fit through the doorway_."

"Shut up, and quit whining like a girl. Just shove."

Sasuke gave him a death glare from across the top of the box. "What the hell do you think I've been doing?"

"Ok." he said slowly, nodding his head. "Try turning it to the other side?"

"Already did that."

"Sideways?"

"That too."

"Squishing down the sides?" he asked meekly.

"Can't get any more squished than this."

Scoffing, Naruto threw his hands in the air. "The window?"

Pausing, Sasuke sent a glance to the opening, carefully examining it, and shrugged. "Could work."

Finally with an agreement, the two rounded to the glass, which Naruto shoved open, and Sasuke propped the box on the pane, slowly sliding it in. As soon as it was balanced on the wood, the blonde started to pull it inside, when the weight of the items began to shift to the back of the cardboard suddenly, a weight he wasn't prepared for crashed into his stomach. The sides of the box were too big, and before he could stop it, the weight of the box shoved it's way through the opening and onto the floor, cracking the glass of the window in the process. Grunting and rolling over on his side, Naruto curled into the fetal position and held his stomach.

"Auughuhghguhg." he sobbed, wriggling around.  
"You moron!" the raven haired man hissed from the outside, staring down at his friend with clenched teeth. "I am _not _fixing that window! So don't even ask!"

"Teme..." Naruto groaned pathetically. "Call a medic. I'm bleeding out from my belly button over here."

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Sasuke let out a sharp breath before walking inside and helping the blonde to his feet. Upon standing, Naruto let out a huge whine, and limped over to the wall before leaning against it. His teammate rolled his eyes.  
"You're being utterly dramatic, Dobe. More so than Ino."

"I feel abdominal pain, along with my heartache." the blue eyed Shinobi sniffed, rubbing his middle. "How can you blame me?"

"She's been gone a week and a half. Kakashi has been sending in reports regularly with his ninja dogs, so they're doing fine." Sasuke frowned, kicking aside an empty box as he walked to the kitchen. Naruto followed close behind. "I know what happened, but she's not alone this time. It will be fine."

Propping his elbows on the long stretch counter, the blonde watched as his friend rummaged through his box of brand new kitchen ware (an early house warming gift from the council, which he found extremely odd) to find a glass cup, in which he filled it up with water from the sink. Naruto frowned at him, looking completely disinterested.  
"So? Things could go wrong again, and I'm worried. Is that so bad?" With another dramatic sigh, he flung himself across the table, splaying out his arms. "And right when she agrees to be my girlfriend too! Damn it!"

Sasuke quirked an inky brow, taking a drink. "Life's a bitch, especially if you're a ninja."

"You should seriously consider writing poetry, Teme, that was deep."

"Hn. Thank you."

A knock rang out throughout the nearly vacant house, and picking up what was the mess of himself, Naruto advanced towards the door, his teammate deciding to stay and pick around in the kitchen. Opening the elegantly carved wood, he saw the unusually innocent smiling face of Kiba, with Shino, Shikamaru, Chouji, Sai, and Lee in tow.

There was a moment of silence, as Naruto stared at them with a suspicious look. "What are you guys doing here?" he asked accusingly, having a bad feeling. Kiba normally didn't look so cheeky, and the rest of the guys had an aura around them. He's been their close friend long enough to know when something was up.

"What?" Kiba asked sweetly. "Friends can't help other friends unpack?"

"No." the blonde said flatly. "Not you guys anyways."

"Ah, damn." Chouji cursed, sighing. "He caught us. Might as well tell him, Kiba."

"Ok, fine." he huffed. From behind his back, he pulled out two huge bottles of sake. "We kinda wanted to get drunk with you and start messing with your crap and run around your monstrous house. Don't be selfish."

Debating it, Naruto stepped aside in defeat, in which the guys whooped and made themselves at home on the bare wooden floor of the dining room. Pulling out a sheet from the box labeled 'linens', Kiba spread it across the ground and sat down the two bottles, the men following suit. Hearing the commotion, Sasuke peeked out into the dining room, and upon seeing the 'merry band of idiots', frowned.

"What the hell are you guys doing here?"

Kiba snorted, cracking open a bottle. "To fuck shit up, obviously."

The raven haired man rolled his eyes and took a seat next to Shikamaru. "Naruto already has that notion taken care of."

"Getting' reeeeal tired of your shit, Teme."

"I shall go get us all glasses." Lee announced cheerfully, which Chouji stared in horror.

"Not you, Bushy Brows." Kiba whistled, shaking a finger. "Naruto just moved in, and we don't need to be looking for him a new house already." Lee hung his head, but nodded none the less in agreement and went to fetch the glasses anyways.

Sai tilted his head to the side, looking curiously at the group. "Why can he not drink with us? Don't all friends join in on such an occasion?"

Naruto barked a laugh and shook his head, grabbing a glass from Lee as he returned. "Not Bushy Brows. He can hold his liquor about as well as an academy student."

"Which is about the size of your penis, but we still accept you." Sai retorted.

"Oi! Do you want to die?!" Naruto cried, and the group burst into laughter.

Kiba, having already finished half a glass, stood and walked towards a box, rummaging through it. Everybody began talking and joking, occasionally messing with the blondes stuff, in which he really didn't care. He had nothing to hide, and nothing extremely valuable that required delicate protection from the morons. An hour or two passed, before Kiba groaned really loudly from the back of the house, which was faintly heard by the guys, for the house was huge.  
"What is it, idiot?" Naruto called, taking a sip. He was drinking more than usual tonight, and he was feeling the buzz creep up on him.

"Naruto, are you gay?" he called, and the blonde spit out his drink.

"What the hell, Kiba? No I'm not gay!" he yelled, his eyebrow twitching in annoyance as everybody laughed. First the bar tender a few weeks back, and now him? What kind of signals was he sending off?

Kiba resurfaced from the hall, his hands in the air as if he had thrown them up whilst he was walking back. "I mean, what kind of a man doesn't carry porn around here?! I looked in all of your stinking boxes and nothing! Zip! Nada! So other your hiding some really juicy stuff, or you're gay and too ashamed to buy sausage magazines."  
"God dammit, Kiba! I'm not gay!" he exclaimed. "And I don't have porn, so you can quit looking, pervert."

Plopping down, the supposed pervert poured himself another drink. "Just saying."

"How does Hinata put up with you?" Shino asked, more to himself than the brunette, in disgust.

Shikamaru shrugged in agreement, and laid back onto his arms. "All men are different together than with their girls. If I acted the way I do with you guys, Temari would bash my head in with her fan, the troublesome girl." he sighed, closing his eyes.

"Yeah, ain't that the truth." Chouji drank in approval, lifting his glass. "I love Ino, I really do, but sometimes, guys just need to be guys. I'm tired of painting her toe nails." he shivered.

"I'm intrigued with the way you all think." Sai said, slurring a bit. He couldn't hold his alcohol very well, but it was miles better than Lee. "It's nothing like in the books. I'm really enjoying myself and, porn, is it? I would be very enticed to see a, 'porn'."

Everybody laughed as he looked on quizzically. Sometimes the boy was so sheltered it was kind of ridiculous. Naruto sat back on his elbows, watching his friends. He loved them all, the stupid goobers that they were. He may never have had a family, but this was the closest thing he had to it, besides Kakashi-sensei, Pervy Sage, Baa-Chan, and Iruka-sensei. The only person missing besides Jiraya (the thought sent a wave of pain through his heart, though it was more aching now than sharp) was the person whom he wanted nothing more than to see.

_Sakura... _

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"Sakura!" one of the Jounin screamed, just as she turned her head to see a kunai coming for her temple.

Diving to the side, she evaded the weapon smoothly, hitting the ground with a graceful step. Grabbing a handful of shuriken from her pouch, she flung them at the nearest enemy, missing, but with a smirk one of the wind users on her squad stepped out from behind a trunk and sent the shower back to the man with a powerful gust of air. Sakura cringed as the weapons hit so hard they sliced straight through the body.

Flicking several drops of the enemies blood from her clothing, a chakra scan told her that they were in the clear once more, and she reached behind her to slid her kunai in her pouch. Cracking her neck, she rubbed the aching muscles thoroughly. She must have pulled something when evading a nasty punch earlier in the fight, and she would apply chakra, if she wasn't preparing for another battle, just in case.

A Shinobi is never too careful. Paranoia could drive you crazy, but as a Kunoichi, it could very well save your ass too.

Walking over to her team, she gave them all a bright smile, despite the circumstances. It was somewhat of a trademark of hers now, and every ninja who had worked with her had grown accustom to it. No matter what happened, she always found a way to smile.

"Ok, my chakra scans aren't picking anything up for now." Her eyes flickered to the tracker on her squad, who merely nodded in agreement. "So I think that the best course of action is to make camp about forty kilometers west. We'll take turns shifting watch, and this will give us a chance to clean up, rest up, and get ready for tomorrow. We're going into the next town to investigate, and this town is where the main portion of the boys are going missing." she took a deep breath, looking over the bodies of the group they had just fought, the corpses growing cold.

"Were these like any of the ones you fought previously, Haruno-San?" a young red headed Jounin asked, and Sakura drew her brows together, looking at her.

"I'm not entirely sure. It's hard to say. They fit the age range of the boys going missing, but something was off..." she trailed, replaying both fight scenes in her head, and finally shook it, confirming it to herself. "No. There fighting styles are too different. I think this batch was just some unlucky bastards who thought that robbing us would be a good idea." Some of the Jounin actually gave them pitied looks, before turning back to the pink haired medic. "So let's head out. The sooner we get to a camp site before dark the better."

So they began their run, sprinting forward towards the sunset, their packs bouncing gently against their backs. The travel was quiet for the most part, the birds singing dying down with the sun, and the rustle of the trees paired with the wind that was drying up the sweat on her body was beginning to make her more tired than she realized she was. Her muscles began to ache, which she swore at in disappointment. She really needed to take on more missions. They were about halfway to their destination, when a silver blur caught the corner of her eyes. Turning her head and focusing on running in the tree limbs with her peripheral vision, she found the crinkled eye of her former Sensei.

"Yo." he saluted, giving her a tiny wave.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei." she smiled brightly despite her fatigue, and he chuckled.

"It's strange, you know. Seeing you all bossy. Taking on a leadership role." he sighed, shaking his head. "All grown up. Wow, I feel old."

"Only as old as you look." she giggled, giving him a lopsided grin. "You never have to worry about grays though. You should be used to it by now."

"Not funny, Sakura." he frowned, but she could see the amusement in his eye.

"But you totally _rock _the gray, Sensei."

"Thank you."  
"Anytime." There was a long, comfortable silence, and when they were far enough ahead from the team to be out of ear shot, Kakashi turned back to her seriously. "What?" she asked, raising a pink brow.

"I was wondering...from a medic's point of view, how is it even possible for him to be alive?" he inquired coolly, and she frowned at the topic. "I've seen you kill people, Sakura, and you don't leave until they're good and dead. So, how?"

"I don't know." she admitted sheepishly, shrugging. "I've considered the possibility of somebody moving the body, but there would have been tracks, you know? The ghost of a jutsu, actual track marks; that man wasn't the lightest of men, and we have the best tracker ninja out there. And why only move his body? There were plenty other great ninja in that cave. I get that he was the leader and all, but if you go through the trouble for him, there were some equally good ninja in there with less serious fatal injury, why not go for more?"

Sighing, she craned her neck back to make sure her team was still following religiously behind her, and upon finding them still in the condition and numbers she left them, she returned back to the conversation, satisfied. She didn't feel anything in the safety radius, and the tracker ninja weren't signaling, so they were fine. For now, at least.

"But I also made sure to scan for anymore more Shinobi. I found nothing within miles. And the cave was already demolished and sealed. I don't know, Kakashi. Maybe I missed something? I mean, it happens..." she trailed, staring straight ahead, replaying everything in her mind like she was accustomed to do these days. Maybe in her weakened state she missed a chakra signature?

"Well, sometimes the most simple logic can help us figure a mission, and it's when we need it that we forget it." Kakashi informed, slanting his mouth in concentration. "Look underneath the underneath." A grave expression crossed his face for a brief moment, and before Sakura could get concerned, it was gone.

"Thanks for the words of wisdom, old man."

He merely smiled at her, and leaned over to ruffle her pink hair. "I'll scout ahead." he said, and was sprinting ahead of the group before she could even open her mouth to say anything.

Sakura merely rolled her eyes and smiled, readjusting the strap of her bag. She loved her Sensei, but sometimes he was just as quirky as his students. Thinking back on his words, she pursed her lips, her eyes screwing up playfully as his words rolled around in her head. Logic, huh? Basic logic. She began to idly play with her medic pouch, rummaging around and checking her bandage supply out of sheer boredom. What was some basic logic that she didn't look over during the mission...

All at once, it hit her like a brick to the face. Of freaking course. Every team had a medic, so that must mean that his newly formed 'Akatsuki' had one as well. But where? And where was said medic when she was there? And why wasn't she able to sniff them out? Where was the medic when all of those people were dying? Grinding her teeth, she knew it was a long shot, but she had a hankering as to what the answers to those questions are.

If the medic was as good as she was dreading, then they would be able to hide their presence so well that her weakened self wouldn't be able to detect them; also, the boss would want to keep them to himself, locked away and saving their energy for when he was down and out for the count, and she was long gone. That would make whoever this medic was, one hell of a field doctor to be able to treat something as severe as what she had inflicted on the bastard.

Cringing, she knew that her observations should have never had slipped through her fingers. If it wasn't for her Sensei's subtle words, she might have been clueless through the entire mission. She has to be prepared for when the real shit goes down, for it was always a nasty battle between two skilled medics. This situation is going to get real ugly, real quick she realized.

They reached their destination, and she sat her bags down by a rather large boulder, that at the top had a wonderful view of the terrain, and if positioned correctly, completely hid the scouter with tree limbs and leaves. Stretching, she felt a few areas along her spine pop, and she groaned in appreciation. Lightly thumping against her shoulder with her fist, she made her way over to the fire, which one of her ninja had started.

"Alright." she said, yawning and looking at the expectant faces of her team. "Somebody needs to sort out the watches, a group of three needs to scout for food, and another two needs to get enough firewood to last us the night. There's a river through the two oaks and down the hill a little ways, where anybody can fill up their canteens and take a bath if not on watch. Any volunteers?" she half-joked, and already saw people pairing up and beginning tasks.

"Haruno-San, what watch would you prefer?" asked the same red headed Jounin from earlier.

Sakrua shrugged, having being used to broken up sleep, thanks to the hospital. "I'll take third watch." Her team beamed appreciatively. "So long as I get the first bath." she said, waggling her finger, her eyes cast seriously and her eyebrows furrowed. A few chuckles broke out from the group.

Grinning, she walked over to her bag, pulling out her canteen, a fresh pair of ninja clothes (and by fresh, meaning she washed them in the last river with a little bit of detergent she brought) and her hygiene pack, and was about to make her way to the trickling water when something fell out of her pack. Shrugging, she reached down to pick it up and toss it back in, but for some reason, she stopped, turning the object over and staring at it.

Suddenly, a wave of longing crashed into her fiercely. She had been so busy with everything that she hadn't the time to get worked up about home, and the picture that had just landed by her feet made it all come back to her.

The grinning idiot in the photo couldn't be anymore than fifteen, his unruly blonde spikes sticking in every direction, a huge, shit eating grin on his face as his tongue stuck slightly out to the side. His arms were behind his head in his usual habit, his jacket was billowing open, revealing the black shirt he tended to wear underneath. The blue eyes that had never changed for all those years sparkled with a mischief she had grown to know and love.

Everything about this picture was Naruto, thus making everything about this picture was something she loved. She completely forgot she had this. Blinking back foolish moisture, she held the photo against her breast, feeling her heart beat against it. Closing her eyes, she cradled it there, as if a piece of Naruto was there for her to hold onto. It was a comforting thought, just not as comforting as his arms around her. Giving it a small smile, she kissed the picture and laid it delicately back into her pack.

"God." she groaned, now staring at her pack. "Do you have any _idea _how much I miss you?" she whispered to the bag, and shook her head slowly, her ponytail swishing. Standing up, she brushed her knees off and continued down to the river.

On top of the boulder, with carefully concealed chakra, Kakashi sat, smiling down at his student. He had seen and heard the entire little scene down at the base of the giant rock, and it had made him smile fondly at the pink haired medic. Leaning back on his hands, he closed his eyes temporarily, focusing on the crackle of the fire below and the small curse from the river after a tiny splash. It wasn't home, but at least he was around the people who he cared about, so just about anywhere, even in the middle of the forest, seemed less lonely.

Staring up into the darkening sky, he could only imagine what his other knuckle head of a love struck student was doing at the moment.

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"I said no!" Naruto cried, punching Kiba in the shoulder with a little more force than intended. Oops. He always had a problem of controlling his strength when drinking.

Kiba merely laughed it off and rubbed his shoulder, punching him back. "Come on, you pansy! Don't be such a _spazz_."

"This is utterly stupid." Shino groaned, taking the last drink as Chouji cracked open another bottle.

They had made Lee, the only sober one, go retrieve more sake from the local Liquor store. For his trouble, they gave him extra cash to get him something for himself that was none-alcohol related, in which he was slurping down happily at the moment. Red bean soup wasn't exactly something crazy for a drinking night, but whatever floated his boat.

"I said no!" he said, and gave a tiny hiccup, which the boys roared with laughter at.

"Look! You _are _a spazz!" he cried in hysteria. Wiping an eye to infuriate the blonde even more, he even 'flicked' the tear at his face. "Everybody else is doing it!"

"That's because everybody else is complete morons!"

"Don't be like that!" Chouji chastised lamely, taking the first drink of the new bottle. They had skipped glasses about four bottles ago and just started drinking straight from the source, which Sasuke sneered at in disgust, but snatched the bottle from the pudgy man anyways and took a long swallow. "It's not going to be anything disrespectful. Just details."  
"I said no!"

"God, you're like a broken record, aren't you?" Shikamaru smirked, taking the bottle from Sasuke, who shrugged and leaned back on his elbows.

"A broken, but respectful record." he grumbled, continuing the pass around and retrieving the bottle form Shikamaru. "Besides, I don't get much action anyways." he shrugged, taking a drink. "I'd bore you."

"As if!" Kiba laughed, bumping Naruto with his leg. "We know girls fall over you, man!" Smirking, he gave him a devious smile. "Didn't you just get a girlfriend? Gotten anywhere with Sakura at all?" he wiggled playfully, trying to tease the blonde out of good nature.

Fully joking, but joking or not, the blonde growled, low and deep in his throat. "Don't even go there."

"Ok! Ok!" The brunette threw his hands up defensively. "I get it! Sorry!" he huffed, letting his hands fall on his knees. "I meant nothing by it. You know I wouldn't say anything bad about any of the girls."

Sighing with a nod, Naruto stood from the spot he had been sitting in for hours, and he cringed when the muscles ached and he found that he had a very numb ass. Fighting the light-headed feeling that came with standing that fast, he stumbled to the kitchen, sliding open the big door and sticking his head outside. Moonlight washed over his features, casting a gentle, pale glow across the huge back yard, which served more as a garden as well. Taking notice of this new found area, he suddenly realized that he had never even seen any areas of the house besides the inside.

The lawn was clean cut and manicured, a set of patio furniture off to the left of the door. A few large rocks were scattered around the yard, artistically placed. Flowers decorated the entire perimeter around the lot, and the pale light spilled into the tiny forest that rested right outside of his home, also reflecting in the tiny pond that was tucked under naked sakura trees.

_Sakura_...

Groaning, he walked over to a patio chair, pulling it out and slumping into it. The cushion engulfed him, and it was definitely a much more comfortable place to sit that what he was sitting on a few minutes ago, but then again he never really cared much about things like that. A cool breeze caressed his bare arms and face, and he eagerly leaned into it's touch, as if it were an actual entity. A soft slide to the door aroused his senses, but he ignored it, already having feeling the chakra signature of who it was before they even reached the kitchen.

Sasuke plopped into the seat next to him, letting out a deep breath and there they sat in relaxing silence, the quiet being broke every so often by a guileful laughter from the house, or a particularly loud cricket. They often did this, if Naruto felt like shutting up for more than five minutes that is. Just simply enjoying one another company, saying nothing, and getting to know each other again just by being in the presence of the other. They did this more than communicating verbally when he first returned. Now that they talk constantly (or as much as the raven haired male will grind out), it was still refreshing to do it again every once and awhile.

Finally, Naruto was the one who broke the silence, as he always was. "I really don't need this big of a house. I told the council that."

"Hn." Sasuke grunted softly, letting him know he was listening.

"But they insisted. 'Oh, Uzumaki-Sama, the Hokage of such a proud village shouldn't live in such a _slum_.'" The onyx eyed man said nothing, but stared out into the pond, watching it ripple with the wind. "And it's not the sheer size of it, I suppose. Ok, maybe it is, because we're still paying off debts after the Great War and the village doesn't have the funds right now to indulge in _this_." he said, waving his hands around vigorously. "But the thing that really just _pisses _me off is that you can afford to indulge for the Hokage this, but make an orphan live in a _slum_? By _themselves_?" he snarled lowly, and Sasuke knew that he had hit a sore spot for not only the blonde's self, but his own included. "Things are going to change as soon as I take that vow in two weeks. I promise you _that_. Starting with this house."

There was another long silence, Naruto watching the leaves in the trees rustle in the wind, rocking the tops gingerly while Sasuke continued to stare at the pond. Eventually, a deep mumble rolled off from the blonde's side. "You know, the house isn't that bad." he began, crossing his arms over his chest and staring up at it. "If anyone deserves it, it's you." Naruto snorted, leaning a cheek against his propped elbow. "And when the time comes to start a family, you have the room. Besides, how are you going to entertain Daimyos in a tiny '_slum_' like the one you used to live in?" he finished with smirk towards his friend's direction.

Naruto barked out a laugh, and shook his head. "Could you imagine? The minute they saw a cockroach, they'd probably faint into their own vomit."

Sasuke stared at him blankly. "I'm pretty sure that's every normal persons reaction, Dobe."  
"Aw, shut up, Teme. I thought we were having a moment here."

The raven haired man snorted in response. "Never in a million fucking years, moron."

"Now you're just being hateful."

"Guys!" Chouji slurred from the slide door. "Getyourassesinhere."

"What?" Naruto asked, cocking his ear towards the pudgy man's direction while furrowing his brows.

Sasuke sighed. "They want us back in, Dobe. I didn't think they'd miss us that much." He stood gracefully, following a stumbling Chouji back to the group of guys. Naruto continued to sit out in the night by himself, enjoying the scenery while letting his best friend's words jumble around his fuzzy thoughts. Grumbling, he too rose to his feet and went back into the house, nearly falling back into his previous sitting arrangement.

The men joked and laughed, and Naruto joked and laughed alongside them. The night raged on, and the blonde was now passing through it with a cloudy mind, smile-worn face, a stomach that hurt a little too much with excessive laughter, yet still a very heavy heart.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXX

Sakura cursed as she slipped, a patch of newly wet moss messing up her rhythm. Elegantly, she flipped over the next tree and landed on the upcoming branch, flying through the sprint without anymore trouble. If her team noticed her slip up, they didn't say anything about it. The run to the next village proved to be just as peaceful (i.e boring) as the run to their camp grounds, and Sakura was about ready to die.

Figuratively. Not literally.

So they continued, idly playing with their kunai pouches, or counting the number of birds in the trees, their chakra scans and sharp instincts never left them, but they were always on high alert, so it was almost as natural as breathing by now. The only times they truly were at their most relaxed were when they were safely tucked in their beds in the heart of the village. Even then, the tension never left them. It always lingered, whether they knew it or not, and a lot of the times, it saved their asses.

Starting to check through the mental list of things she left unattended at home, Sakura disinterestedly peered around the forest, until the massive concrete wall that skimmed the horizon warned that their destination was close. Sighing in relief, the rosette pumped more chakra into her legs, her body craving to stay in a hotel with a real bed, a real shower, and some actual food. Don't get her wrong, she loved to sleep under the stars and rough it; craved it sometimes. But two straight weeks of it left a girl feeling, well...gross. Stinky, gross, and _hairy_. Shivering, that last thought pushed her body forward even faster.

Stepping up to the gate, she smiled sweetly at the guards that were posted at the top, and they glanced down at her warily. Lifting her hand, she gave them a little wave as her team bounded up behind her, stopping to wait patiently a few feet behind. The guards nodded once to somebody she presumed at the bottom, and sure enough, from under the ground emerged a Shinobi, which her mouth puckered in a mildly surprised 'o'. Well, Kumi was much sneakier than Konoha, she supposed.

The guard cautiously approached her little entourage, and she took her time to inspect him, to evaluate. It took her merely seconds by reading his chakra waves and watching his body language to gauge his fighting style, dominant hand and leg, as well as personality. It was all very unoriginal and dry. Flickering her gaze up to his, she noticed that he saw her picking him apart under a strict microscope, and to the average, untrained medical eye he looked unphased, but she saw the very slight bunching of he muscles and the tell-tall bob of his Adam's apple.

Not here to scare allies, Sakura chastised herself, and so she offered him a very warm smile, in which she saw him relax. She heard a light snicker behind her, and she cocked her head to the side in warning.

"Passports?" he asked gruffly, his hand out stretched like a kid waiting for candy, although the expression on his face didn't exactly match the description.

"Yes, sir." Sakura rummaged through her bag, pulling everyone's passports and handing them over.

His eyes glanced back and forth from each document, before nodding and handing them back. "Follow me." he said quietly, swiping his hand to the side and opening a large maw in the dirt.

Everybody followed suit, dropping into the gaping hole and coughing slightly at the musky scent inside the tunnel. Before they could get used to the light or smell, the other side emerged into their view, and they all took turns scaling the side of the dirt, and with another swipe of his hand, the tunnel was completely closed once more. Inside the gates, the city was bustling with much vigor, and despite being a rather small village, the people looked happy enough. Sakura beamed in approval.

"You're the Konoha reinforcements about the disappearances?" he asked her, and she noticed with a slant of the mouth that he never switched from the gritty voice.

"Yes, sir." she answered absentmindedly, looking around the town some more, her stomach growling at the smells that wafted from the vendors.

A gravely laugh had her head swinging in his direction. "Is that all the words you know? 'Yes, sir'? Are you always this compliant?"

"Rarely." she said, grinning. He seemed a little less up tight now. "I was just admiring Kumi. It's really homey."

"Yeah." he rasped, watching a kid swerve around their group, giggling as he ran from what she presumed to be his older brother. "It's really a friendly village, which makes me wonder why so many of our young are going missing..." he trailed, looking to the skies. Sakura watched him carefully, his gray eyes so light that it almost looked like he didn't have any irises. It was a creepy sight. "They were just at the age to become eligible for being Jounin."

"I'm truly sorry, sir." she said honestly, watching the civilians closely once more. "We would have been here sooner, but we caught a lead that I thought was too good to pass up. Turned out to be just a group of useless bandits." she sighed, feeling foolish suddenly. "Waste of time, but hey? Bright side is that we got a hold of a bandit group before things got messy."

The man shrugged, stopping in front of a rather larger looking building. "Here we are." he said, motioning to the building. "I leave you here."  
"Thank you for everything, sir." she said, climbing the steps to the rather small village center.

He merely waved in recognition before dispersing into the crowd. With a tug at the corner of her lips, Sakura readjusted her strap and opened the door gently, feeling her team behind her the entire time. In the middle of the rather warm room, a man sat behind a worn desk, shuffling papers around as a fan blew on his sweaty face. The blinds were drawn shut, and only a little bit of sunlight seeped into the room. Upon hearing the door open, his head snapped up, and he wiped his brow with the back of his hand.

"Oh!" he exclaimed, and rose from his seat, shaking his head. "Terribly sorry. The building here is so hot, it's ridiculous. I've been meaning to rebuild for quite some time, but the funds here aren't very good." he sighed, wiping his hands on the back of his pants. "But welcome, Konoha! And thank you for coming."

"Thank you for letting us help." Kakashi's eye crinkled.

The man smiled, his blue eyes sparkling. "Please, it's our pleasure." Turning to Sakura, he gave another smile, this time of interest and surprise. "Haruno-sama." he murmured, and she nodded. "It's an honor to not only have the son of the White Fang here, but Tsunade's legacy as well! Truly magnificent!"

"Thank you, sir." she mumbled politely, wishing he wouldn't stare so long.

"I heard that your teammate Naruto Uzumaki is pursuing the Hokage title, am I right?"

Her jade eyes softened at the mention of his name. "Yes."

"Well, send my regards!" he said cheerfully, looking down at the floor before snapping his head back up to his desk. "Let's get down to business, shall we?"

The briefing was short and concise, they jumbled around ideas about Sakura's previous mission, and she and her team got the 'Ok' to question the locals and the families of the missing persons. With the meeting over, she hurriedly ran to the nearest decent hotel and got settled, eating a dinner at a local restaurant with Kakashi, which was actually delicious, and headed home for one of the longest, hottest showers she ever had. She scrubbed herself twice, just for the hell of it.

Before falling asleep though, she rummaged through her bag, picking out the picture of her smiling idiot, and placing a kiss on the photo. "G'Night." she mumbled, falling back onto the bed. As she wrapped the blankets around her tightly, she wished silently to herself that it was a pair of strong, tan arms as she drifted off to sleep.

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed! (Sorry if it seemed a little short?) **

**Read, Review (yes please!), and Enjoy! **

**Read on, **

**~Dayonight7**


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